Iron Weakened by Rust
by Emerald-Shadow-Knight
Summary: Twelve-year-old boys do not get eating disorders. Simple as that! ...Right? Note: May contain triggers and OOC places.
1. Prologue

I think I saw another story dealing with this sort of issue, with two of the same characters. Just saying now, it's coincidence. I don't want people thinking I copied the idea or anything.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia.

* * *

Here he was again. Normally, this type of punishment wouldn't have been issued for something like this. But apparently, Arthur didn't take too kindly to having his sugar replaced with salt.

Peter didn't get it. He was only having a little fun, just a little prank. His brother didn't need to blow it out of proportion. Salt in your tea tasted nasty, yes, but it wouldn't kill you or anything. Arthur just needed a sense of humor.

Now, the boy sat in his room, not getting his supper for the night. It wasn't fair! He was just being himself. Arthur was just a great big jerk! He sure hoped his parents came to get him early tomorrow. For now, though, he was stuck in here, getting nothing.

Well, it wasn't like he wanted to eat his brother's food anyway. Even he knew it sucked.

...

Later that night, Peter decided to forget about Arthur's harsh demand to have no food. He was hungry, and he was going to get something to eat, whether his jerk brother allowed him to or not. Slowly, quietly, he snuck out of his room. Since Arthur's room was right across from his, it was a bit of a challenge.

Then, with the stealth and precision of a cat, the boy tiptoed down the stairs. Thankfully, they didn't make that annoying squeaking noise like he thought. He reached the doorway when he heard Arthur's voice talking to someone.

"I know! The little git must've thought it was funny, or some bollocks like that...What's that? No, I don't think it was too harsh. You ask me, he needs to lose a few pounds. He's getting a bit pudgy, it looks like."

Pudgy? So Arthur thought he was fat? He could've told him, instead of blabbing it to some random person over the phone.

Peter didn't think he was that fat. Regardless, he went back upstairs, into his room where his mirror was. Making sure the door was closed, the boy turned on a light and looked at himself.

Come to think of it, he had been consuming more chocolate lately. He at first thought nothing of it. Now, though, he noticed some chub poking out. He lifted up his shirt, and it was certainly there.

Peter was shocked. Should he have been paying close attention? It seemed for once, Arthur had a point.

That was it. As soon as he got home tomorrow, he would start dieting to get rid of this pudge. Tonight, though, he had to get some sleep.

The boy slipped into his bed, hearing footsteps up the stairs. Hearing his door open, Peter shut his eyes tight.

As soon as Arthur left, the boy felt his eyelids actually grow heavy. He surrendered himself to the world of dreams, and went to sleep.

* * *

Note: This may be one of my most controversial stories yet. Just letting you know.

-Emerald-Shadow-Knight


	2. Pressure

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia. I merely write fanfiction for some of its characters because I am a worthless cretin who has too much free time.

Also, for future reference: Denmark=Mathias, Norway=Lukas, Iceland=Emil

* * *

The next morning, Peter roused from his sleep. He unfortunately didn't have any sweet dreams. Looking down at himself, the boy saw that yes, there was that apparent pudge around his belly.

Peter wasn't really sure what to do, so he casually poked it. The door opened, an an irritated voice called out almost immediately.

"Oh, bloody hell, are you still in bed? Get dressed, your uncle's already here!" The Sealander practically fell out of his bed, clambering toward his closet and looking for his usual outfit.

He knew they'd get him today, but not this early in the morning.

Peter grabbed his sailor outfit, complete with his hat. The shirt was backwards, and his shorts were inside out, but hopefully his uncle would forgive him for that.

...

"Good day to you, Lukas. Sorry it's taking a while. The little git just woke up, apparently." The Norwegian man shrugged. He wasn't too worried about being back late with the kid.

"It isn't a problem. They don't need him home at a specific time. He may take as long as he needs to." Lukas showed himself in, taking in his surroundings.

"Do you by chance have a library, Arthur?" The Englishman nodded. He showed Lukas upstairs to a door he kept locked.

"It's through here. There any particular book you were looking for, Lukas?" The other man looked away, then nodded slowly. "All right, maybe tell me, so I can help you find it?"

"I would rather not." Arthur raised an enormous eyebrow. Normally anyone borrowing a book would tell him what they were looking. It was almost as if Lukas was intending to take more than one.

Arthur ultimately decided not to push the matter, and unlocked the door for him. Lukas wasted no time going in and searching the enormous bookshelves.

The Englishman left the door ajar for Peter, and went back down to the kitchen, to begin brewing tea.

...

After Peter finally fixed his outfit to look decent, he went out into the hallway and saw the library door open. He was hit with the smell of dust and old books.

"Hello? Are you in here?" The shelves made the boy look absolutely dwarfed. He got onto his tiptoes and craned his neck. Peter could see his uncle's floating curl above one of the smaller shelves.

"I'm over here, Peter." Lukas' voice almost seemed to drag itself. Peter made his way over to him, seeing him looking through Arthur's books.

"What are you doing, Uncle Lukas?" The Norwegian almost seemed to ignore his question, continuing his search among the old tomes.

"Looking," was all he said. He pulled out one book, then another, then put them both back, before finding one he needed. "Here it is."

Lukas tucked the book under his arm, before reaching out and taking Peter's hand. "Come, everyone else is at the house." Peter followed his uncle as best as he could. Believe it or not, Lukas was faster than he looked, even while walking.

...

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Arthur saw Lukas come down with Peter, holding one of his books. Lukas nodded, remaining silent. Arthur couldn't help but notice it was one of his black magic books.

"I will return it to you as soon as I am finished." The Englishman shook his head and gestured with his hand.

"Oh, dear me, no need to be rushed. Take your time." Arthur raised his teacup, his drink **_not _**spiked with salt this time, and drank. "I hope to see you soon, then. And take care," he pointed at Peter with his little finger, "that that little git doesn't cause mischief."

Lukas simply nodded, and he and Peter took his leave. Once outside, the Norwegian questioned his figurative nephew.

"You were pranking him during your stay, Peter?" The Sealander felt his cheeks color red. He really didn't want to answer that.

"Just that one joke with his tea! It isn't like salt would murder him or anything." Lukas cringed a little. He wasn't really one for the humor kids had these days.

"_Nei, _it wouldn't. It still isn't a nice thing to do." Both walked for a while afterwards in silence, before it was Peter's turn to ask a question.

"Uncle Lukas, do you think I'm fat?" The words stopped the older male in his tracks, turning to him with a shocked and confused look on his face.

"What makes you think you are?" The flat tone of his voice almost made Peter flinch. He instead poked his belly to point it out. Lukas' face returned to normal, then he shook his head.

"You are not fat, Peter. I don't understand how you got that idea in your head." He put a hand to his head, then pinched the bridge of his nose. "Well, wherever you got it, put it out of your mind now. A child your age thinking of something like that is foolish."

Despite his words, though, the boy didn't quite believe him. He thought they were just words relatives said to each other to make them feel better. He decided not to further press the matter, though.

"Now, the Baltics are visiting today for dinner. You may play with Raivis, but you have to behave. For some reason, Eduard isn't feeling so well." He spoke the Estonian's name rather mockingly. Given the apparent issues between Eduard and the Nordics, Peter could almost see why, but also not really.

...

"Peter! You're home!" The boy was almost immediately smothered by his figurative mama hugging him. Lukas himself made his way to the table, in between Mathias and Emil.

"Hi, Mama!" Tino led him into the kitchen, where he had today's meal set out.

"Can you help me bring this all in, Peter? I know you just got home, but..." Peter took a tray or two to show he didn't mind at all. Tino was delighted, seeing his partner's child so willing to help.

When the two brought everything out to the dinner table, Peter's face lit up when he saw his Latvian pal. Raivis did the same thing. Next to him, Peter saw that Eduard indeed did not look well.

"Is everyone ready to eat?" Everyone nodded. When the plates were set on the table, almost immediately Mathias motioned to lunge. However, he was stopped by Emil. Berwald then passed out plates to everyone.

"Be p'tient, Mathias. You'll g't y'r turn." The Swede glared at the Dane, and it was returned. Everyone else took their turn, and dug in.

"Peter, you don't have as much on your plate as you usually do. And Eduard, you aren't eating yours at all." Peter was trying his best not to look suspicious. He was trying to cut back on eating today, since he was still thinking about his weight.

Eduard though, well, he wasn't sure what his problem was.

"I'm just not very hungry today, Mama." The boy could feel his Norwegian uncle giving him a disapproving look.

"Neither am I, Tino." Eduard was looking down at his lap. Reluctantly, he lifted his arms, beginning to eat a bit. Peter followed suit, watching him and chewing slowly.

When everyone was finished, Tino had gone back to get dessert. "Who wants pulla~?" He said in a cheerful voice. At this point, Eduard lurched forward, one hand over his mouth, and the other over his stomach.

"Excuse me," he said before running off toward the bathroom. The others watched him run off, with Tino tilting his head, unsure of what just happened.

"What, doesn't Eduard like pulla anymore?"

...

Peter decided to follow the Baltics to where the bathroom was. The three of them could hear Eduard violently retching.

"I don't know what's wrong with him, Peter," Toris said over the gagging noises. "Raivis and I have had to see him like this for a while now."

"Maybe he's sick?" Peter didn't know what else could be wrong.

"No. H-he's not one to g-get sick normally. He's always t-the picture of health. He's b-been like this for a while now, a-and he won't g-go to the doctor!"

The Sealander looked down, deep in thought. What kind of person refused to see a doctor when they were sick? He was about to ask Toris and Raivis, when the door opened, revealing Eduard wiping his mouth.

"Eduard, are you all right now?" The blond man nodded.

"_Jah. _Just have a bit of a bug, is all." His words didn't seem to convince them, though. Toris cringed, then put his arm around him.

"I think we should get you home, anyway. Come on, let's go say thanks to the others for inviting us here." The Baltics gave support to Eduard as they walked off, leaving Peter all alone.

As soon as he heard them talking to the Nordics, Peter went into the bathroom and found a full-length mirror he could use. He knew if he wanted to lose weight, he'd need some kind of plan.

As he looked himself over, the boy could've sworn his stomach looked bigger. Did he really gain so much from one meal? That couldn't be right.

Or maybe he thought it was smaller earlier, when in fact his eyes were playing tricks on him. Regardless, Peter was soon going to start a diet and exercise regimen.

Then he would show Arthur who was "pudgy."

* * *

Pulla is basically a type of Finnish sweet bread. I saw it, and thought it'd be nice to throw it in.

Well, I'm glad I'm getting readers and reviews for this story! That really makes me glad! Well, you know what to do.

-Emerald-Shadow-Knight


	3. Perception

To the reviewer who said "Arthur will die by my hand!" Don't worry. I'll have him dealt with accordingly later on. You need not worry.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia.

* * *

That night, Peter had an unsettling nightmare.

In it, he had confronted Arthur and showed him how much weight he had lost. Indeed, he was a slim little boy.

"Hey, Jerk Arthur!" He pointed at him and smirked confidently. "Look how much my weight changed!"

Arthur looked at him, confused. He then started snickering, before evolving into all out laughter.

"Your weight certainly changed, all right, you little wanker!" Peter looked down, irritated.

He did gain weight, but he had thought he lost it. Instead, he had gained. Quite a lot, in fact. The boy covered his face in embarrassment, unable to look at his older brother.

The laughing became more ugly and maniacal, and his was joined by many others. Some of the voices were in fact a few of his closest friends.

Peter couldn't take it anymore. He turned the other way and started running. The voices followed him, mocking and cruel.

"Look at him! He can't even run right, he's so fat!" No matter how hard he tried, Peter couldn't block out their voices. He just ran, not stopping even once.

When the Sealander woke up, his brow was covered in sweat. He looked around the dark room, seeing it was still not yet sunrise. He stumbled around, looking for something.

He looked through the things that made his room his. Eventually he found a little box, looking through it.

"Better put this somewhere I won't find." Peter tucked the box under his arm, quietly sneaking out of his room, and into the living room. He caught sight of a little white ball of fur snoozing away on the couch.

"Hana. Hana, wake up girl," Peter whispered to her. Hanatamago simply rolled over in her sleep, and continued sleeping away.

"_Hanatamago! _Come here!" He whispered a little louder, more fiercely. That finally woke the dog right up. She stretched herself out, and was at Peter's side in an instant.

"I got a job for you, Hana," he whispered as he picked her up with his free hand. As quiet as he could, he rearranged everything he was holding, and walked outside.

The sky had begun to brighten slightly, with the impending morning upon them. Peter set Hanatamago down to the ground. Almost immediately, she began digging a hole, as most dogs had a tendency of doing.

"Hurry up, Hana. They're going to wake up soon." As soon as her hole was big enough, he set his box down into it. He then covered it with fresh dirt, patting it down amongst the other holes the dog made.

Both of them then walked back into the house. Peter made his way back into his room, covering himself and trying to get a little more sleep.

...

"So did you find out what was wrong with him?" After Tino and Berwald had woken up, Tino was alarmed at how filthy Hanatamago somehow got during the night. He was talking with Toris on the phone as he scrubbed his little puppy. Berwald could hear Tino's side of the conversation, while reading the newspaper and waiting for Peter to come to breakfast.

"He's not saying anything? That's not like him..." The Finn turned around and pointed to Hanatamago, signaling Berwald to finish washing her. With a grunt and a nod, Berwald was up and finishing the job.

"Well, all right. I'll come over sometime this week and see what I can do." Tino hung up and watched the Swede. "Well, soon we'll know what caused him to throw up at dinner yesterday."

At this point, Peter came down with a jump rope. When the Finn saw him, his face lit up.

"Peter! Good morning. You want some breakfast?" The Sealander showed a look of shock, which seemed to go unnoticed. Without hearing his answer, Tino brought him over to the table. Everything had been put out already. All the cheese and cold cuts seemed to beckon him.

Well, breakfast was an important meal. And Peter could work it off later anyway. Slowly, he filled his plate with toast and cheese and a little bit of whatever else was on the table.

It was Finnish cuisine, but Berwald definitely made it. The boy was off in his own little world as he ate, thinking about his bad dream.

He barely felt Hanatamago's wet fur on his legs when she zoomed by. Berwald drained the sink and went after her with a towel. Tino was already packing his things to go to the store.

"I'll be back soon, you two." The Finn smiled and waved as he walked out the door, leaving the two in silence. Berwald was drying off a very wiggly Hanatamago. Peter watched them as he finished eating.

"D'ne already, P'ter?" Berwald noticed the boy's empty plate. Peter nodded, getting up and putting said plate into the sink, which still smelled like wet dog.

"Can I go out and play for a while, Papa?" The Swede saw his child's jump rope and nodded. "Yay! Thanks, Papa!" Peter gleefully skittered outside, out to the nearest park.

...

It was still pretty early, so not many children around yet. Peter looked around for somewhere with enough space for him. He found a spot, so he readied himself.

Peter started jumping with his rope as soon as he was ready. It took a few tries, before he got the hang of it. He whispered jump rope rhymes to himself, skipping in rhythm.

He went as long as he could without taking a break. After about an hour or two, Peter was exhausted. Catching his breath, he got a drink from the nearest water fountain.

"This is harder than it looks..." Of course, Peter didn't expect to see results overnight. He just had to get used to his self-imposed regimen, is all.

After all, he had to reach his goal, and rub it in Arthur's face.

...

"y' got a pr'bl'm, dog," Berwald said as he put a leash on Hanatamago. Almost as soon as they got outside, Hana made her way to dig another hole. Berwald picked her up and leashed her in order to get her to calm down.

It took a bit of effort to get her onto the sidewalk. Once he did, though, Berwald was able to keep her in line. The Swede kept an eye out for Peter, as he reached the park.

Berwald must have been quite a sight to anyone there. Some stared in awe as the huge tall man walked a teeny puppy. He paid them no mind, he just looked for his child.

He eventually found him, sitting on a bench. Quietly, Berwald approached Peter, who noticed his imposing shadow a short distance away.

"Papa! What brought you out to the park?"

"C'me to see h'w you were d'ing." The Swede sat down next to him, switching the hand he was holding the dog leash in.

"Oh!" Peter didn't dare tell his papa what was on his mind. He didn't want to say, 'I'm a big fat tub of lard' or something along those lines. "Just taking a break is all."

Berwald watched as Hanatamago snapped and growled at Peter's dangling jump rope. Slowly, he took the dog leash and handed it to Peter. The boy was understandably confused.

"Huh? Papa, what are you...?"

"You w'lk her back t' the house. M' gonna g' see how T'no's doing." And with that, Berwald left, waving to Peter.

Now the boy was left alone with the little white pup. He looked at her, watching her walk in circles. She was starting to make him dizzy, doing that.

"Come on, Hana!" He stood up and got her attention. He started to walk her back to the house. Then somehow, Hanatamago got the idea in her little dog brain that she was racing the human with the rope attached to her.

Quickly, she pulled on her leash, running faster. Peter was barely able to keep up. It took a lot of power not to be dragged by her. For a teeny puppy, Hanatamago certainly had a lot of energy and strength.

As soon as Peter got in the door, the phone rang. Quickly, he ran over to answer it, forgetting to take off Hana's leash. "Hello?"

"Oh, Peter! D-Did Tino and Berwald leave?" Raivis' voice was heard over the line.

"Um...Yeah. Mama went to the store, and Papa went to go check on him. Why, what's up?"

"W-well..." Peter could hear yelling in the background, followed by something crashing. "Let's just say we k-know what's wrong with Eduard n-now. Can you tell them what it is w-when they get back?"

"_Oh, sure, Raivis! Why don't you tell the whole world while you're at it? Everyone's going to know come the next meeting anyway!" _Peter could hear Eduard screaming rather well, now. It wasn't like him to scream like that. It must really have been serious.

"S-Sorry, Eduard!" The little Latvian went back to talking to Peter. "Anyway, the p-problem with him is..."

...

Arthur watched as Alfred threw his things onto the bed into the spare bedroom.

"Thanks for letting me stay over here, Artie! Tony's been going crazy with his experiments, I just had to get out of there." The Englishman scoffed at the mention of the little alien's name.

"Well, just don't blow anything up or such." Arthur whispered to himself as he excused the room. "The existence of aliens is pure poppycock, anyway."

"What'd ya say, Artie?"

"Nothing, Alfred!" The Englishman went downstairs to brew himself another pot of tea. Alfred followed shortly after, looking for some kind of pop.

"Hey, where's Petey? I was gonna say hi to him," The American said while he was digging around the fridge. The amount of culinary failures in there was astounding.

Arthur looked up from his teapot. "He went home already. Given what the little git was doing before he left, it's all for the best."

"Oh, really? Gettin' into trouble?" Al was chuckling as he found what he was looking for. It went on like this for a while.

The Englishman inwardly sighed. He did like Alfred, he just wasn't sure if he could handle him living here for who knows how long.

He just hoped Tony finished with his 'experiments' soon.

* * *

Sorry if parts of it got sloppy. I was desperately trying to get this long enough to my satisfaction.

And I'm also doing research as to what Peter's weight would initially be. Since I don't remember them saying it in the series, I have to look it up. Needless to say, it's going to be really low at some point.

Yeah, you know what to do.

-Emerald-Shadow-Knight


	4. Perplexing

All right, to address you reviewers as a whole, since I'm bad at remembering usernames: Don't worry, I won't abandon this story. Your suspicions about Eduard are likely correct. You guys need only to read other stories of mine to know for sure (it's a kink of mine). And just plain thank you!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia.

* * *

"He's _what_?" Tino nearly spilled his soup onto the table cloth. He was so shocked, Hanatamago looked up from the bone she was gnawing on. "H-how can he be...?"

Berwald sat him back down. The Finn was still trembling in surprise. "I can't believe he's...do they know how far along he is? Or who's the father? Tell me what they know, Peter!"

The boy looked down at the food he was playing with. "They said...Well, Raivis said they were drinking vodka, and..." Tino nodded to show he was following. "Well, Eduard looked like he was drinking, but...he was spitting it back into his cup, Raivis said."

The younger adult man seemed satisfied with this. "I suppose they saw him do it, then. Do they know anything else?" Peter shook his head.

"Well, all right." The three continued eating their dinner, with Hanatamago chewing away on a bone that was at least three times her size.

After a short silence, Berwald looked over at his child. "Pet'r. Y're not eating. Wh't's wrong?"

"Hm?" Peter looked at his bowl of soup, which was going cold. "Mmmph...I'm not very hungry today, I suppose." Berwald raised an eyebrow at this. Usually the boy ate anything set in front of him at dinnertime.

"Y' sure?" Peter nodded.

"Can I...be excused, please?" Tino and Berwald looked at each other, confused. He normally didn't ask that question.

"I suppose so. Do you feel all right, Peter?" The boy shook his head. "Well...I guess you can go, then."

Peter silently thanked his parents, and walked upstairs without a word. He reached his room and flopped onto the bed. There was no way he was going to eat tonight.

He had a goal, and he had to find out what was and wasn't safe to eat. He could find out the next time Tino went to the store. Slowly, Peter pulled the covers up over him, and looked up at the ceiling.

He wasn't sleepy, he just needed to think of a way to go about this.

...

Later that week, Tino had gone to visit the Baltics as promised, with Peter coming along. Both of them were expecting the usual antics that happened there. Of course, given the recent discovery of Eduard's...condition, it likely wasn't going to be.

Lo and behold, he was right. The Finn saw Toris and Raivis sitting outside, apparently frightened.

"What are you two doing outside?" The two didn't need to answer, though. The sounds and shrieking were answer enough for him.

"Cravings," was all Toris said, with an uneasy smile. If that were true, the Estonian was experiencing the cravings from Hell itself.

"Even if h-he's not getting them, his h-hormones go crazy, and there's nothing w-we can do about it," Raivis said. "Right now, he's getting c-cravings for-"

"Piirakka!" Tino ducked instinctively at the sound of glass shattering, even though he wasn't anywhere near the window. "Someone give me piirakka right now!" Tino wasn't used to hearing Eduard's voice being that loud. He looked over at Peter, who was checking the lunchbox he brought with him.

"There's some in here!" Peter walked up the porch and went inside, before any of them could protest. Looking around, he saw the house was an absolute mess. The Estonian had been at this for quite a while.

"Mister Eduard?" He peeked into the kitchen, seeing a rather angry looking Estonian man standing there. "I have some piirakka with me, if you want it." Eduard walked slowly towards him, the look in his eyes seemingly borderline feral.

Peter held his lunchbox out in front of him. "I'm not hungry right now, anyway." He wasn't hungry at any time of the day, really. The older male grabbed it from him and sat down with it, practically smelling it.

Almost immediately, he devoured the contents. The Sealander was sure he'd have eaten the box too, if he were hungry enough. The way Eduard ate made it seem as though he hadn't eaten in years.

When he was finished, Eduard stood up and handed the box back to Peter. He then nodded in thanks and walked to his room. At that point, the other three walked in to see what happened.

"He ate everything? Oh dear..." Tino looked into his child's lunchbox. "I guess he really was hungry, huh?"

Peter didn't care. It meant he didn't have to worry about food for at least a little while.

Sorry for the odd cutoff at the end and the possible OOC places (I'd place the blame on his hormones, but somehow I don't think that would've been good enough). I wanted to get this chapter out as soon as possible.

* * *

Yep, that's what was wrong with Eduard. Hopefully some people won't mind too much. I'll try not to have it mess with the story too badly.

R&R?

-Emerald-Shadow-Knight


	5. Paranoia

I'm glad I still got readers. That seriously makes me happy. If I could, I'd hug all of you right now!

But anyway, in case you're already asking questions about what's going on, don't worry. Everything will be made clear in the end. That's all I'm going to tell you.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia. It belongs to a Mister Hidekaz Himaruya.

* * *

Early the next morning, Peter snuck into the bathroom and turned the lights on. Normally he came in here to do his business, but right now he didn't have to do that. He dug around under the sink for what he was looking for.

So far, he had done his best to stick to his plan. He exercised when he could, ate foods he deemed 'safe' and anything else he could do to work off the weight.

Of course, it hadn't been easy, either. So many foods became tempting. Sometimes Peter almost reached out for that chocolate bar, or that bag of gummy worms, or anything that was delicious.

There was always that little voice that told him to do it, to eat that tempting sweet. Of course, the boy told himself that if he did, he would be proving Arthur right. That was simply something that couldn't be done.

There were so many other foods that were a big no-no. Peter had been restricting himself to vegetables and fruits, mainly fruits. At least most of them tasted good.

After a bit of searching, Peter finally pulled out the bathroom scale. He set it down carefully, trying to keep the noise to a minimum. Looking behind him, he realized the door was unlocked. No sense in risking being walked in on.

After locking the bathroom door, Peter stripped down to his shorts. He didn't want to confuse the scale by any extra weight caused by his clothing. Stepping both feet on, he watched the number count his weight.

"Let's see...Twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, keep going please, sixty..." When the number finally stopped, Peter saw he lost three pounds. That was enough to make him jump in glee. Of course, he had to keep quiet, lest either of his parents come to check it out. He instead opted to clap his hands and grin.

He then heard the doorknob move back and forth, followed by a knocking on the bathroom door.

"Peter, are you in there?" His mama's voice could be heard as Peter got redressed. "Hurry up and come out here! You have a visitor."

The boy set the scale back under the sink and made himself presentable. He then wiped his shirt off, and opened the door.

...

As soon as Peter came out into the living room, he was suddenly hugged by someone, who happened to have very strong arms. The poor kid could've sworn he felt something of his break.

"Heya, Petey! How you doing?" The loud voice was unmistakable. Peter turned around in his arms as best he could, hugging him back.

"Hi, Mister Alfred!" It was so good to see him again. Well, both good and bad.

"I hope you don't mind, I'm spending the day with you~!" Alfred laughed happily. With that, he lifted the boy up and carried him out the door. Tino and Berwald could only wave and smile.

Spending time with Alfred was amazing, usually. Whether they went to watch movies or hang out at the park, or even just hang out at Al's place. One thing was for sure, though; there was always that inevitable visit to McDonald's.

That part scared Peter now. It hadn't before, but now it did. As they pulled up and made their way inside, he could practically smell the grease. On the list of whether it was 'safe' or 'unsafe', McDonald's was pretty much 'oh hell no'.

He didn't like it. He wished Alfred had used the drive-thru like some people did. But no, the man insisted on walking in to get his food. Peter watched as the American ordered the usual for both of them.

Peter tried mentally reasoning with himself. One side of the argument was, he'd done good so far, maybe he could reward himself? But the other side was, '_you eat this, Peter, and you'll go down a slippery slope_'!

Arthur already teased Alfred about eating these damn meals. He'd no doubt do the same to him. He would've continued thinking, had the man not come back bearing those edible fatmakers.

"Who's hungry?" Definitely not Peter. He'd play along, though. That goofy smile was too nice to refuse anything to.

When they sat down, Al tore into his rather enormous meal immediately. Peter obviously didn't scarf his down so quickly.

"Hey, Petey, eat up, or it's gonna get cold." The poor boy was still conflicted. In an attempt to appease the American, he picked up a few fries, which were still freakishly hot, and ate them.

Peter regretted doing so immediately. He almost felt those things scald his throat going down. Of course, he resisted the urge to bolt. He grabbed a few more, and repeated the gruesome process. He then grabbed his cheeseburger and finished it off as soon as possible.

The guilt and regret was practically tearing him up. He could feel all that food just making him fat. He then quickly realized he could just get rid of it another way.

Peter stood up quickly, and ran to the bathroom before Alfred could react. The stalls were thankfully empty. He ran into the nearest one and locked the door. He didn't care if the place smelled awful, or if the floor was sticky.

The Sealander jammed his fingers into his throat, as far back as they could go. Everything he consumed came back up in a thick torrent of vomit, which he promptly spewed into the toilet.

As Peter coughed and gagged, another wave hit, and his head went back down, and he continued retching. He kept doing so until he could puke no more. Breathing deeply, Peter flushed the toilet.

When he started wiping his face at the sink, Peter could hear the door open.

"Hey Peter. You okay, buddy?" The boy didn't turn around right away at the sound of Alfred's voice. Knowing the man needed an answer, he nodded.

"M'okay, Alfred."

"Well...okayyyy," Alfred said, drawing it out in that unsure manner. "Just come back out when you're done, all right?" Peter only nodded again, before washing his hands.

...

On the ride back home, Alfred noticed Peter wasn't being as talkative. He was just looking out the window.

"Hey, Petey, you sure you're okay?" No answer. Al reached a hand over to the boy's face and waved it over him. "Hello, Earth to Peter."

"Yes, I'm all right," he said in a flat voice. The American seemed unsure.

"You sure? 'Cause you don't seem too happy today-"

"_I said I'm fine!" _Peter's sudden outburst of anger took Alfred by surprise. He looked over at him with wide eyes. He normally didn't have these outbursts when they hung out. Knowing he was still probably mad, Al didn't question him further.

...

Later that night, Peter was sitting up in bed, not the least bit sleepy. He was still mulling over the events of the day.

He hadn't meant to snap at Alfred like that. He was just getting irritated from the questions. If he said he was fine, then he was _fine. _There was really no need to interrogate him.

Not to mention the fact that now he had a new method of losing weight. If he absolutely had to eat, with no way of getting out of it, he could just puke it out. It would be a bit hard to pull off, but it would be worth it in the end.

Besides that, Peter was simply not tired. He passed the time by drawing in a notebook. Hanatamago was curled up next to him, snoozing away. He looked at her, envious of her.

The dog could eat whatever she damn well pleased, and stay her miniature size. He didn't blame her though. He had to admit, she was still a good dog, if not a bit mischievous. After all, there was a reason their backyard was full of holes.

Before he knew it, the boy had filled up his notebook with all sorts of drawings. He flipped through them, looking over his work. Most, if not all the pictures were of some type of delicious food.

They were all something he had deemed 'unsafe' to eat. How he wanted to have just one bite of anything. Of course, then he'd hear Arthur's mocking laughter.

Peter wanted this, or that. He wanted a big slice of chocolate cake, or freshly baked cookies, or hell, even that salty licorice his parents had would work. Every time he thought of something though, he could hear that jerk Arthur's mocking laughter.

"_What, have you been eating a whale, Peter? It certainly seems that way!" _Everything he thought of, the cruel, child-like chortling just got worse. Peter tried smacking his head to get it out, but no luck. He eventually just got way too mad.

Without thinking, Peter grabbed his notebook and threw it at the wall. The thump wasn't that audible, but it was enough to wake Hana. She sat up with a start.

"Sorry, girl. Didn't mean to wake you," the Sealander said as he petted her. He couldn't believe how soft her fur was. It took his mind off his growling stomach.

The poor boy was going to have a long road ahead of him.

* * *

So, just a bit of clarity. If Peter starts acting...OOC later on in the story, well, I did research. One of the symptoms of Anorexia is irritability, or something to that effect.

I think the same goes for Eduard, for him, I suppose, blame hormones. Just a heads up.

-Emerald-Shadow-Knight


	6. Palpable

So most of this was written late at night, so if it isn't all too coherent, that's why. Anyway, it's more of a breather chapter, but it still has signs of Peter's issues.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia. Only the man who finally came back after a really long time does.

* * *

"And he just got ticked at me for bringing it up! Can you believe that?" Arthur and Alfred were talking over dinner the next day, which consisted of basically tea and what was supposed to be custard. "Something's off with him, Artie, I know it."

"Off, eh? Maybe the little git's just rebelling against you. God knows he does it with me all the time," the Englishman said, as he stirred his tea. "It could be now you're getting a taste of what I go through."

"Yeah, maybe. He doesn't have to, though!" Alfred played with his food, which earned him a sigh and eyeroll from Arthur.

"Bloody hell, Alfred, eat what you have on your plate." Arthur then felt his eyesight go black, with a gross feeling on his face. He could smell the custard he made all over.

"Don't tell me what to do, Artie," the American said as he put his plate back down.

...

"Y' sure you can't f'nd it, T'no?" Berwald looked at his Finnish partner, who had his hands full and looked worried.

"I'm sure! I was going to put these into his snack box as a surprise, but I can't find it! You think maybe he lost it somewhere?" The Swede took hold of some of the chocolate in Tino's arms, looking it over.

"H' could've. Let's st'rt looking," Berwald grunted, ignoring the fact that Hanatamago was on the table eating their dinner.

The two started looking high and low. Tino took the higher level of the house, and Berwald took the lower. Both men searched every nook and cranny, and even in places Peter normally didn't go.

In the end, though, it didn't even matter. Peter's snack box was nowhere to be seen. When the two met up again, Tino had a worried look on his face. Before any words were said, though, a crash came from the dining room.

"What the...?" Both men went to investigate, and found Hanatamago sitting on the floor, with everything from the table dashed around her. The little puppy looked quite pleased with herself.

"Oh, Hana!" Tino picked her up, and carried her outside to the backyard. "We really don't need you causing all these messes! Bad dog!" He said while shaking his finger at her.

As soon as he went back inside, Hanatamago scurried over to one of the holes in the yard. She quickly began digging until a good-sized hole was made. She then ran over and dug up another.

The corner of a wooden box peeked out, until the thing was unearthed entirely. She then grabbed the treasure with her teeth, dragging it to her new hole. Then, Hanatamago re-buried the box.

She was unsure why the little human had asked her to bury it. All she knew was that there were many good-smelling things in it that she couldn't get to.

...

"Hey, you two. Look at this." Peter had been visiting the Baltics for the day. Or rather, he visited Toris and Raivis, while Eduard locked himself into his room.

"What is it, Toris?" The brown-haired man pulled out a stuffed rabbit from behind his back.

"Isn't it cute? It's for Eduard's baby. You think he'll like it?" Peter reached out towards the toy, gently taking it from him. He and the Latvian couldn't help but run his hands over the soft fur. The bunny was smiling back at them.

"I just thought maybe he needed some help with everything. The baby's not due for another few months, but it's best to get a start now." Toris left the toy with them, as he went to go prepare dinner.

The two boys looked over the rabbit a little longer, before Raivis broke the silence between them.

"H-He's still not saying anything, y-you know." The younger boy looked up. "No matter how m-many times we ask, E-Eduard won't tell us w-what's bothering him. He's n-not saying who the father is, or i-if he's sick or upset."

Peter said nothing. "I-it's like he's keeping secrets from us. D-does he think we'll disapprove of h-his baby's father? Peter, w-why won't he tell us anything?" Peter shrugged.

All he really knew was there was something he couldn't tell the others, as well. Obviously, though, he wasn't pregnant. He was going to keep his weight loss a surprise. Toris came by with a tray of freshly made putra and piirakka.

"Here you two are! Eat it quick, all right? Don't want it to go to waste." He set the putra down in front of them, and handed them spoons. Toris then turned to walk to Eduard's room, knocking on the door with his foot.

Both younger boys looked over their shoulders as the door opened, revealing a rather gloomy-looking Eduard. Toris held up his tray to let him sniff it. Peter and Raivis could hear Estonian folk music playing behind Eduard as the two men acted out.

Eduard shook his head, rubbing his stomach, which had already begun to swell. The Lithuanian tried again, which made the Estonian roll his eyes before finally taking the tray.

The door then slammed in Toris' face. The Lithuanian shrugged and walked back to the kitchen. Raivis then turned back to his putra, digging in. Peter was hesitant, which was noticed right away.

"H-hey, Peter. Aren't you going t-to have some?" The younger boy shook his head, before wrapping his arms around himself and rubbing them. He got one hand free and pushed it closer to his pal, letting him have it all.

"I'm not hungry. Just a little cold in here." Raivis didn't question him further, and the rest of the time was spent watching TV.

* * *

Yeah, it's probably not too coherent, and it ends on a weird note. It's more filler, than anything.

Hopefully, I'll write something more relevant to the plot. Expect time skips, as well.

-Emerald-Shadow-Knight


	7. Precious

This will be the chapter where the awkward time skips start.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia.

* * *

"M'thias, get out of th' fr'dge. There's nothing 'n there for y'," Berwald said to the Dane, who was rummaging around in his food.

"Aw come on, Berwald! You gotta have some beer somewhere in here. Come on, help a buddy out?" Mathias was so desperate for some kind of alcohol, really. He was sure the Swede and Finn were hiding some from him.

"M' not your buddy. Now g't over here," Berwald said as he seated himself among the other Nordics.

"All right, all right." All five men were now seated at the table. None of them seemed to know what to talk about, though.

Tino put his hands on the table, anxiously fiddling around with them. Emil took it upon himself to break the silence.

"...Have you been able to figure out who the father is?" Everyone became even more uncomfortable. They all knew who he was talking about. Lukas, however, simply continued doing his task, which was reading through the book he borrowed from England.

"It's like pulling teeth! No matter how much I try, he keeps quiet." Lukas seemed not to notice Tino's talking. "You think he'd tell me something, but no." The Finn leaned forward on the table and tangled his fingers into his hair.

It was awkwardly silent again, save for the Norwegian's inaudible muttering. Whatever he was reading, it was important.

...

Four pounds. He gained four pounds. What a freaking nightmare. It had been two months into this diet, and now he was getting a nasty case of the downside. All that work had apparently been for nothing.

Peter looked more intently at the scale. He checked to make sure it wasn't broken, and it still showed he gained four pounds. The boy stepped off and got redressed.

He felt bloated, and he felt like a failure. Peter kneeled down onto the floor and grabbed his hair. He wouldn't admit it. He was so careful. He had cut out everything he found fattening. He exercised at least once a day. So how did he gain so much damn weight?

It was probably Berwald's cooking. It was so good, Peter couldn't help but eat too much once in a while. He tried his best to throw it back up each chance he got, though.

Well, that was it. Peter decided that whenever Berwald cooked, he would try to weasel out of it somehow. Maybe he could go over to Raivis' for dinner on those days. It was worth a try.

As Peter put everything away and walked downstairs, he heard the Nordics conversing. He heard things like, "stay", "the night", and "Eduard". Whatever it was, it meant all five Nordics were staying over.

Peter was a bit afraid of that. He loved his Nordic uncles, but last time there was some...unpleasantness. Then again, it wasn't every night your Danish uncle was passed out on the floor naked.

...

"Eduard?" Toris knocked on the door to his fellow Baltic's room. "Eduard, are you awake?"

There was initially no answer, before the door slowly creaked open. The brown-haired man was greeted with a scowling blond person, and the sight of a five-months-pregnant belly.

"What do you want, Toris?" The flat tone went unnoticed by the other man.

"I have to run into town to run some errands. Do you want to come along? Raivis went to lay down for a nap." The Estonian man turned behind him, searching for something, before turning back and opening the door wider.

"All right." Toris couldn't help but notice he was holding something in his hand. "But only if you promise to take me to the post office."

The ride there was rather uneventful. Eduard said nothing, and neither did Toris. The first stop was, of course, the post office. Toris watched as his fellow Baltic walked somewhat unsteadily to the mailbox.

He didn't know who he could have been writing to. Perhaps it was Berwald and Tino, or possibly the father of his child.

Then again, it was probably a sort of 'don't ask, don't tell' kind of deal. Eduard wasn't going to say anything about it, so there was no point in asking.

When Eduard came back, Toris opened the car door for him. Again, no talking, before Toris decided to break the silence.

"Mind telling me who that letter was for?" Eduard kept his lips tightly shut. "You don't...you don't have to tell me who it was by name, just..." There was no point in dancing around the subject. "Was it for the baby's father?"

Still no answer, though the elder man could've sworn he saw a single, curt nod. He was pretty sure it wasn't caused by a bump in the road, either.

"Eduard, you have to open up to us. You can't just sit in your room forever. You need to come out for reasons other than bathroom breaks and satisfying cravings." No answer. The brown-haired man decided to just drop the subject for the rest of the ride through.

...

Later that night, Peter was up late doing push-ups. A little exercise was in order after his unexpected weight gain. From now on, he had to crack down on his regimen. No more slacking off.

There was no room for error. As he adjusted and began his sit-ups, Peter could hear his three uncles conversing in the room next to him. What a joy paper-thin walls could be.

Well, they would be if he could hear all their words. Somehow, though, they were talking quietly enough to be almost unintelligible. Just some whispers, probably about Eduard. Then came a series of loud yipping.

"Why is the dog in here?" Hanatamago could then be heard down the hall. Peter could hear a set of footsteps following her, until both of them were quiet. Opening the door, the boy could just see his uncle Lukas' hat disappearing down the stairs.

Come to think of it, now that he was out here, maybe it wouldn't hurt to have...maybe one little snack? It would just be a safe food, anyway. Quietly, Peter tiptoed out of his room, and downstairs. His two remaining uncles didn't seem to hear him.

Upon reaching the kitchen, Peter saw that Lukas and Hanatamago had disappeared, almost without a trace. There was no sign of them in the house. Shrugging, the Sealander opened the fridge door.

But where were the safe foods? Everything was either leftovers or stuff he wasn't supposed to drink. Thankfully, there was no sign of Mathias' underwear. (The Nordics still didn't know how those got in there anyway)

After finally settling on a stick of celery, Peter closed the fridge door, but as he did, he was frightened by the sight of his Uncle Lukas.

"Peter," the Norwegian said in a stern, but pained voice, "You didn't listen to me that day, did you?" The boy was still shocked at how he could have entered the kitchen so quietly.

"U-uh...Well..." Lukas pulled out a familiar looking box. The dirt slightly encrusted on it indicated where it had been. There was no way around it. The proof was right there, in the man's hands. Peter decided to just play it cool.

"So what?" The boy shrugged, pretending to be nonchalant about it. Lukas wasn't convinced, though. He stretched his arms and handed the box full of sweets to his nephew.

"I want that box empty in the morning. You hear me? And don't even think about hiding any of it, because I will look." His point made, Lukas watched as Peter trudged upstairs back to his room.

...

Mathias and Emil were already asleep when Lukas returned. Mathias was snoring away, like a hibernating bear. Emil had his ears covered to block out the racket.

Lukas didn't mind the noise too terribly. He found it oddly soothing. As he opened the book he borrowed from Arthur, he listened to the strangely rhythmic way the Dane snored.

Finding where he left off, the Norwegian man thought to himself how much everyone actually relied on him. Peter should be glad someone cared about him enough to not see him do this to himself. The kid should've also been glad that he didn't squeal to Tino and Berwald.

And besides, other matters were to be dealt with, and believe it or not, the Nordics needed help. He was the man to do it.

* * *

Yeah, sorry about the schedule slips and possibly incoherency. I tend to do this. I'm still writing, though! It just takes a while at some point.

But let me say this, though: I won't say who, but you guys have already met the baby father. Let that tumble around in your minds for a while.

-Emerald-Shadow-Knight


	8. Poignancy

Hee hee...I presume my clue in the last chapter narrowed the choices down considerably. Still not saying, though. Just weigh all the choices for now. It will be revealed in time.

Also, some parts of this chapter may feel tacked on. They sort of are. I wrote some parts before the others, and tried incorporating them into the chapter. Let's see if it's noticeable.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia, and I never will.

* * *

Peter looked at the slightly dirty box in front of him. Well, not so much looked as glared at it. How dare Hanatamago betray him. Of all the things she unearthed, it had to be...this.

Well, that was fine. He had ways around these situations now, even if the dog did things he didn't like.

Slowly, the boy opened the box. All the bright colors leaped out at him, demanding he eat them immediately. So much sugar, so much flavor, so much _fat..._

Against his better judgment, Peter pulled out a candy bar. He didn't recognize the brand, oddly enough. All he knew was that Tino got his sweets for him, and this happened to be one of them. Slowly, he pulled the wrapper off, and took a bite.

Oh, how he missed this taste! The familiar chocolate sensation overloaded Peter's taste buds. It was like coming home to an old friend. And old friend who intended to fatten him up, but he wasn't thinking about that.

At this point Peter had lost all sense of anything else. He only focused on what was in front of him at that moment. When he finished one treat, he would start on another. It was a cycle that only ended when all the treats were gone.

The Sealander now realized what he had done. Looking at all the empty wrappers, he felt his blood run cold. Everything he had eaten now weighed in him like an enormous rock.

Peter dashed out into the hallway, covering his mouth. He then peeked into his uncles' room, to see if Lukas had fallen asleep yet. No luck, he was sitting at the desk reading. He'd have to use the bathroom downstairs, then.

When he got there, the boy locked the door, just in case someone else wandered the house in search of the bathroom. He then kneeled down to the toilet and jammed a finger down his throat.

It burned, it ached, but yet, Peter liked the feeling of it all come back up. It was disgusting, yes, but it showed he was in control. Seeing all that snack food come back up in partially digested chunks oddly pleased him. At least he ate it all before upchucking. His uncle didn't say anything about throwing it back up.

Peter was fine. Lukas had _nothing _to worry about.

...

"So did you find what you were looking for?" Arthur had gotten a call from Lukas the next morning. The Norwegian cut to the chase, no bloating the conversation with small talk.

"I am afraid not. If it's all right with you, I may have to borrow another one."

"Well, I see no problem with that." Actually, the Englishman was uncomfortable with having his books read by someone other than him. He thought it was rude to refuse, though.

"Thank you." A brief silence, then Lukas continued. "Have you seen Peter lately?"

"Peter? No..." And why should he, really? As long as the boy was up to something, he didn't really need to worry. Just as long as it didn't involve him.

"Well, the next time you see him, could you ask if he's..." Lukas' request was cut short by a loud voice coming from Arthur's bathroom.

"Artie, we're out of hot water!" Alfred walked in wet and naked, embarrassing the Englishman greatly. He had no choice but to tell the Norwegian.

"Oh, bugger...Terribly sorry, Lukas, but it seems something just came up. Can it wait until next time?" Lukas sighed deeply over the line. He didn't like being interrupted, but whatever Arthur needed was apparently urgent.

I suppose. I will see you the next time I borrow one of your books." After Arthur hung up, he walked over to where the soaked American came from.

"Now what the bloody hell did you do this time?"

...

Tino looked over at Peter once or twice on the way to the Baltic's house. Although the trip was routine, and the visit lasted the night, the boy was strangely quiet. Normally, he'd be talking up a storm, but not today.

The Finn thought, however, that maybe he was just in a bad mood. That was probably it. Although, it was also strange to see him wearing a long-sleeved shirt in this weather. Something was off.

Tino didn't have time to ask, though. They were already here. He bent down to give his boy a quick hug.

"Now behave for the Baltics, all right, Peter?" Tino wasn't too sure if dropping his child off here was a good idea. He and Eduard were the best of friends, but he wasn't sure what would happen if an emergency arose. The Estonian wasn't exactly in the greatest shape, really.

"All right, Mama! I'll try!" That was really the best he could give Tino. Try as he might, Peter always seemed to get into trouble.

After Tino left, Peter entered the house, looking around. The sound of a TV could be heard in the other room.

"Mister Eduard? I'm here," the boy called out as he made his way towards the source. He could hear the creaking of bed springs, and groaning in effort. The door opened, and Peter almost immediately came in contact with a growing belly.

"Hello there, Peter. You're here a little earlier than I thought," Eduard said, rubbing his back. He straightened up, allowing Peter to see the full extent of his pregnancy. "The others aren't here yet. You may have to wait before Raivis gets back."

Eduard couldn't help but notice the boy was a little bonier than usual. He figured it was just him though, himself being heavier and all. He moved back, letting Peter into his room.

Peter sat down into a chair, as Eduard settled back into bed. The younger boy watched as he pulled up an unfinished quilt. The Baltic went right to work on sewing patches on.

"You know, you can change the channel if you don't like this show," Eduard said without looking up. The boy took the remote and flipped through the channels. As he thought, nothing but brain-melting crap.

At one point, the pregnant man got up, and folded his handiwork. "Peter, I have to go run some errands. Are you going to be all right by yourself for about half an hour?"

Peter only nodded. He watched Eduard get up and reach for a jacket. After he left, Peter was left to do his own thing.

"Does he have any good DVDs?" The boy looked through the collection, which surprisingly wasn't alphabetized. He found mostly foreign-language movies. There were also some...rather suggestive looking movies.

Seeing nothing interesting, Peter then looked through any books Eduard had. None of them were in English, except for something that wasn't quite a book.

"Hello, what's this?" It was full of pictures, and numerous empty pages. Some pictures were ultrasounds, of a still forming child. Then there were pages for what were apparently important milestones in development. Most of those pages were still blank.

It then occurred to him. He was reading a baby book Eduard was working on. He turned to the back, and saw a black-and-white picture of Eduard. The man's belly was already swelling, and he was looking down at it, rather forlornly.

There was also no sign of the father. What a terrible burden for a mother-to-be to bear. Even Peter knew that.

Gently, he closed the book and put it back. Seeing nothing else to do in Eduard's room, Peter walked into the hallway. The place was so cold. Then again, he felt cold everywhere he went nowadays. Most of the doors he tried were locked, save for the bathroom and the other bedrooms.

Then Peter came to the last room down the hall. It was oddly unlocked. He tried peeking in, but it was too dark to see. Quietly, he pushed the door open and turned the light on.

The room was none other than an unfinished nursery. A crib sat on one side of the room, with a few stuffed toys scattered about. Everything a baby needed was right in here. The walls were decorated with sheep and bunnies and whatever other cutesy animals there were.

Peter stood there, speechless. There was something about this room that just gave him a feeling of loneliness. He almost felt out of place.

It was just like at home. His parents were good-looking, and just the right weight. Meanwhile, here he was, the epitome of a fat lard. He felt as though he didn't belong anywhere lately.

"Do you like it?" The voice cut into the silence, startling Peter. The form of a smiling Toris looked back at him.

"Mister Toris! I...I didn't hear you come in..." The Lithuanian strode in, and looked around the overly cheery. He seemed quite proud of this room.

"Eduard decided to call me to check in on you. Feliks was upset to see me go, but I told him I'd be back later." He looked into a small chest and pulled out a few baby clothes. "I made all these myself. What do you think?"

Peter looked at them. He didn't know what was proper approval of this sort of thing. He simply nodded, then asked the burning question.

"Is Mister Eduard ever going to tell anyone who the baby's father is?" Toris' smile faded. He simply shrugged.

"He's stubborn. He'll tell you everything about his pregnancy except that. He won't even tell Raivis, and he'll tell everything to Raivis!" He put the clothes away. "Now, do you think you can come with me to get Raivis?"

* * *

Sorry to end there. I wanted to update. I'll start up again where I left off at their house next time.

There was a whole thing where the baby's father sent a letter to Eduard, but I thought it would make his identity too obvious. Don't want to reveal it too early.

-Emerald-Shadow-Knight


	9. Predicament

More time skips (but not right away). I want to have the kid born in the story, you know?

Disclaimer: What do you think?

* * *

"Lukas, what is this about? You know I'm in a different time zone. Why is this so important?" Emil had been spending the night at his friend Sadik's house. He was sleeping peacefully when he heard the phone ring.

"I am sorry for waking you up," Lukas said on the other line. Emil thought he detected a hint of sarcasm when the Norwegian said 'sorry'. "But anyway, have you been to see Peter at all lately?"

The Icelandic man pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why? Did something happen?"

"No, something is...Look, Emil, just come home soon, please." Lukas usually wasn't the type to say please, so it had to have been serious. Emil tangled the phone cord between his fingers to keep him from fidgeting.

"What about Tino and Berwald? Have they been keeping an eye on him?"

"Yes, but..."

The sound of crashing came from upstairs, followed by a loud declaration of, "Aw, ya stupid bird!" Emil looked in the general direction of Sadik's voice, then turned back to the phone.

"I have to go now, Lukas. Mr. Puffin is causing trouble. I promise, though. I will be home tomorrow morning."

...

That night, after Toris and Raivis had gone to sleep, Peter snuck out towards the bathroom. He went as quietly as he could, despite the occasional creaking. He pulled the blanket he brought with him around himself more tightly. And still, the poor child shivered.

He was about to go in and check his weight, when he heard a whispering from one of the other rooms.

Peter made his way to the source, and pressed his ear to the door. He could hear Eduard talking to someone else a little better now.

"Look, I'm not saying you can't support us, I'm just saying you have to be discreet about it." Peter assumed the Estonian was using that Skype program to talk to this other person. He couldn't hear the other voice, though, so he assumed Eduard was wearing headphones.

"I know, I know. You can just send me money for what I need for the baby, and-what's that? Well, then convert it to my currency. That way people won't know who sent it." It dawned on the boy now. Despite the Baltic man not saying who the father was, he certainly kept in contact with him.

"Well, we'll meet in secret! We'll go somewhere no one knows about, and..._ Jah, _I know, that's how this all started in the first place. But there's no going back now."

"Peter?" He looked behind him to see Raivis behind him. Peter said nothing, merely cocked his head to indicate what he was doing. The Latvian got the message, and put his own ear to the door.

"Please, just find some way to support me and the baby. You don't even have to have a hand in raising it. You can just..."

Raivis looked down at Peter. "Is he t-talking to the baby's dad?" Peter shrugged, then nodded a little.

"...Do you want to see how big I've gotten?" At this point, it went silent, save for a few barely audible adjusting noises, and the bed creaking. The two eavesdropping boys strained to hear anything else. Both of them figured the father was talking now.

"I'm due in about four months. Maybe you can find some means of helping me by then?" A pause. "And nobody needs to know about this. Nobody needs to know. Good night."

Peter and Raivis drew away from the closed door. The peeking light underneath it fluctuated with Eduard's shadow shuffling across to reach the light switch. They didn't want him to see their feet, and upset him for listening in on his private conversation.

The light then shut off, and the boys walked back to their room. Peter was so distracted, he completely forgot what he came out to do.

Well, he'd probably do it early in the morning anyway.

...

Lukas was quietly fuming. At least twice in the last week, his phone conversations had been cut short! No, this was not good at all. Not to mention it was rather rude.

The Norwegian decided to shake it off and resume reading. After a few minutes, he heard the idiotic giggling of a certain drunken Dane.

"Heeej, Lukas!" Mathias said as he stumbled through the bedroom door. At once, Lukas felt those strong arms encircle him in a big bear hug.

"Put me down, you idiot." As he said this, though, a faint hint of a blush crept onto his face. He'd never easily admit his true feelings to Mathias, though. "I'm busy, now put me down before I smack you."

Mathias complied, still smiling. "What'cha readin', Lukas?"

"Nothing important-Hei!" Before he could stop him, Mathias snatched up his book and looked through the pages. His oddly blissful face gradually faded into a look of concern.

"Lukas, what are y'...What is all this?" Lukas snatched the book back and turned to the spot he left off on.

"It is not for you to know, Mathias. Now go to sleep. I'll tend to your hangover in the morning." The Norwegian returned to his reading, hearing the telltale thud of the Dane hitting his bed, followed by loud snoring.

Looking through the numerous spells, Lukas found two in particular that seemed to be what he wanted. Grabbing a pen and paper, he quickly wrote down the ingredients for both, separating them by a line thick dark line.

"I'll have to think of a good reason for getting these things, if anyone asks," He said to himself. He then turned the paper over and wrote the words for one, and the instructions for both.

Lukas was making good time on what he needed to do. He had plenty of time before he needed to set it all into action. But not yet.

Not yet.

* * *

I'll leave it there. I will say this. The coming chapters may become a little dark. I won't say why, but there's a chance they will probably get uncomfortable to read.

And in case you wanted to know, there's a poll up on my page if you want to vote on who you think the baby daddy is.

You know the drill.

-Emerald-Shadow-Knight


	10. Peaked

So I'm looking at the poll I put up so far... I will say some of the results are making me giggle. But just remember, don't count anyone out. It could be anybody at this point.

Notes: Chapter may contain possible OOC from a couple of the characters.

Disclaimer: Take a guess.

* * *

The weeks passed. Peter's regimen became ever the more stricter. He went from ten pushups a day to twenty, and went on from there. Jump rope went longer, and his legs became more tangled. More foods were cut out, having been deemed unsafe.

But it was worth it. Pound after pound came off. Each time the scale said a lower number, Peter's day was made. If it was higher, however, he was miserable.

In time, he finally reached his goal, and the one after that, and the one after _that_. The boy was amazed at how easy it seemed to become, now.

Peter was so happy he could scream. But he didn't. As overjoyed as he was, he couldn't celebrate just yet. After all, he still saw fat on him. He reached his goals, but the haunting rolls and double chins were still there. It didn't help he still got the occasional hunger pangs.

The Sealander mentally wrote down his next goal. After the scale was put away, he descended the stairs to look for any signs of life. Besides Hanatamago rolling around on the floor, no one was home.

That was to be expected, though. Today was the world meeting, and Tino and Berwald had left already. Never mind that, Peter could sneak in anyway. This way, he could go in undetected better.

...

"Oh, Eduard, don't do that," Toris said to the expectant mother laying on the couch. That wasn't the problem, though. The problem was what he was doing. "I don't think you should be using your belly as a table for your laptop. It might hurt the baby."

Eduard rolled his eyes and sat up, with a lot of effort. "I know. I was only trying to get comfortable." Pressing the off button, he packed up his laptop and stood up.

Toris couldn't help but notice how big Eduard was getting, now. His normally smooth skin was now displaying ugly red stretch marks. No matter what kind of remedies the Estonian used, they never really went away. Toris handed him a loose T-shirt that would've been big even for a certain Russian.

"Here. Put this on. As far as I know, it's the only shirt that sort of fits you now." Eduard threw it on with ease, concealing any marks his belly showed. "Unless, of course, you could put on those other outfits I got you-"

"For the hundredth time, Toris," The blond said, cutting his fellow Baltic off, "I am not wearing a dress! I'd like to keep some dignity, and-" He himself was cut short by something, and placed his hands on his bump.

"What is it? Is the baby kicking?" Eduard nodded with a little smile on his face. Toris placed his own hand on his stomach, and sure enough, the little one was kicking up a storm.

"This one's going to be so energetic when it's born, isn't it?" After the baby finished kicking, both men suited up and got in the car, going to meet up with Raivis at the world meeting.

...

"Guys, we're here!" Tino said as he and Berwald came through the door. There was no sign of Mathias and Emil, but Tino figured they were probably upstairs. Lukas was in the kitchen, cooking something.

Emil came downstairs, apparently not fully dressed. "Thank goodness you are both here. Mathias ripped his good pants, and I was hoping one of you can do a quick fix on them, before he..."

A very audible ripping noise came from upstairs, followed by, "Emil, this pair needs to be fixed too!" The Icalandic man could do nothing but facepalm.

"Just come with me, Berwald." The Swede silently followed him, leaving Tino to bother Lukas. The Norwegian had several things out on the counter, many of them the ingredients for some kind of baked good. Next to them was a bowl of some oddly fragrant liquid.

"What are you making?" Lukas looked over at him for a moment, then went back to stirring. He didn't seem to want to say anything. "Can I have a taste?" The Finn slowly reached towards the bowl contents, his curiosity piqued.

At that, Lukas suddenly whirled around and smacked Tino with his spoon handle. The Finn held his hand as he looked at his Nordic pal, confused. Lukas had a frenzied look on his face.

"Lukas, what's gotten into you?" The man stood there with his spoon, holding it as though it were a knife. He then lowered his arm and shook his head.

"I apologize, Tino. I am simply overworked lately. Things have been worrying me."

"Worrying you?" The Finn kept holding his hand (Lukas had hit him pretty hard with that spoon) as he tilted his head to one side. "Like what?"

Lukas looked away. "It is something best discussed with Peter when you return home." He then turned off the oven and began bottling whatever he was making. "For now, however, let's get the others and go."

...

The world meeting building was as big as ever. Peter looked around for any signs of the other nations, but the halls were deserted. Perhaps they were inside already.

The boy watched from his hiding place as his parents and three uncles appeared, going in all together. A short while later, the three Baltics followed. Watching Eduard waddle in and shut the doors, Peter finally jumped out.

Sure enough, the meeting was already starting. Peter could hear the roll call being taken, and he pressed his ear to the door to hear better.

"I wish I knew a way to sneak in without being caught," the child whispered to himself. He waited for the call to end, when he was interrupted by an irritated-sounding, "Ahem."

Peter turned to look behind him. He saw a clearly miffed Arthur, crossing his arms and tapping his foot. Behind him, Alfred said his usual, "Hey, Petey."

"Nice try, Peter, but it bloody well isn't going to happen. Now move it." Peter rolled his eyes, clearing the way for the pair to go in. Arthur went in first, but the American hesitated.

"I'll spend some time with you later, all right, Peter?" Alfred smiled and waved as he followed Arthur, and closed the door behind him.

...

"All right...England and America are accounted for. I suppose it's time to start the meeting! Now, any recent events you want discussed? Please stand and address it if so!"

As the person talking droned on, Eduard cursed his luck at sitting next to a certain someone. Mathias was softly giggling and poking his cheek with a pencil. Quite frankly, it was annoying him.

Of course, the Estonian kept quiet out of politeness. Slowly, though, he was reaching his breaking point. He rubbed his huge belly to try to calm his apparently restless baby.

"Hej. Hej, Eduard." Mathias was snickering as he leaned in closer to Eduard's face. The younger man, of course, leaned away until he stopped. As soon as he moved back again, the Dane did it again. This bizarre process kept repeating itself.

The pregnant man grit his teeth. After several times, he had it. In a whirl, he turned around and snatched Mathias pencil out of his hand, and broke it in half. He then glared and snorted in frustration.

"Whoa, jeez! Sorry..." Eduard said nothing, simply glowering at him for a few more seconds. The sour face then melted into a hurt expression. He then turned his attention back to the important matters at hand.

"Eduard. Hej." Mathias wasn't laughing anymore. Eduard ignored him, not wanting to deal with all of this right now.

Right now, he just wanted to be home, napping or working on things with his laptop. He almost didn't notice the note that was passed to his lap. Quietly opening it, he read it silently.

_Want to come over? -Tino_

Eduard closed it again, nodding silently. Hopefully he wouldn't chicken out and blurt out the baby's identity when he went over.

...

Peter was so bored. There was nothing to do other than wander the halls and listen to the meeting go on. How he wished he was in there. How he wondered what it was like to sit amongst the full-fledged countries.

...How he wanted the walls to stop moving. Seriously, Peter thought he was in the meeting halls, not that Forest Temple from that one game Alfred was so fond of.

Trying to make it stop, the boy hummed to himself, and leaned up against the wall when he felt too dizzy. He'd grab a Melon Soda, like he did last time, but diet restrictions made doing that now a big no-no.

"Ugh...Quit it, stupid walls..." Who was Peter kidding? He knew it wasn't so much the walls as it was him thinking they were moving. "I don't feel so good..." But Peter figured, no pain, no gain. Walking around was a way to get some exercise in. He'd do it even if he came down with the flu.

The little trooper kept at it, until he needed support from whatever he could grab. It didn't stop. If anything, the moving walls became worse. Peter could've sworn he was swaying along to them, like some convoluted dance.

When he couldn't follow the rhythm anymore, Peter collapsed. He tried grabbing a table with a vase on it, but only succeeded in knocking it over with him. Peter remembered the loud thumping and shattering, and little else.

He tried moving, but was unable to. He thought he vaguely heard the meeting doors open, and several panicked voices. By the time Tino and Berwald rushed over to him, the poor kid was already out cold.

* * *

Now we're getting further story-wise! Soon, when the time is right, everything will be made clear. Let's just hope everyone stays around by then.

-Emerald-Shadow-Knight


	11. Pulverize

Let me just say this about the poll: I won't say identities, but going by choices, you're all going to be that more shocked upon the reveal.

Disclaimer: Yadda yadda yadda, lip service, lip service, Hetalia.

* * *

The Nordics and Baltics were silenced by fright as they surrounded Peter. They had heard sounds coming from outside the board room, and when they came to investigate, he was on the floor, not moving.

"Should we move him?" Tino said, scared of what could possibly have happened to his boy. "Is he even breathing?"

Berwald knelt down by Peter's chest, then by his face, listening for any signs of life. Thankfully, the boy was still taking in breaths. He looked up at Tino and nodded to show he was alive.

Maybe we should... we should try to take him back to our house." The Finn felt a hand on his shoulder, which belonged to Eduard.

"About what you wrote to me earlier...wouldn't it be easier to come to our house, instead?" Eduard let his buddy think it over for a moment, before he nodded.

"Well...Okay. Berwald?" The Swede was already holding the fainted child. There was no need to ask him what to do.

...

A short while later, all involved were excused from the meeting, and were at the Baltic's house. Peter was now laying on the mattress in Eduard's room. Lukas watched quietly and waited for him to wake up.

Everyone else was waiting out in the living room. They hadn't the slightest idea what was going on. All of them were worried sick for the boy. Lukas had offered to stay with him.

Of course, he also said that to get into Eduard's room. Slowly turning, he began looking around through the mess. As well-groomed as he showed in public, Eduard was messy at home.

"I know he has what I need," The Norwegian whispered to himself. He was greatly concerned for Peter, yes, but he also wasn't going to let an opportunity go to waste. After a bit of looking under and behind things, he found what he needed inside a scrapbook.

A picture of Eduard, looking at his stomach. Odd, but it would have to do. Shortly after, he found an old pair of glasses. Clearly the Estonian man didn't wear them anymore.

Well, besides Peter fainting, today was to be a lucky day. Just as Lukas pocketed both items, he heard Peter stirring behind him.

...

"What...happened?" The boy was not aware of his surroundings. When he saw his uncle Lukas, however, he woke right up and stared.

"You're awake." The Norwegian said to the child, then looked to the door. "Wait here. I'll tell the others." Lukas strode through the mess and left the room, leaving Peter alone to be frightened.

What did happen at the meeting hall? Peter remembered falling and something crashing, but that was about it. He shivered and pulled the blanket closer around him. He could hear their murmuring through the wall. No doubt, they were talking about him.

They were. He could hear his name being said once or twice. Then came a few gasps and someone saying, "Oh, God..." Peter covered his ears to try to block out the voices. He bit his lip and curled up, knowing that wasn't going to work.

He laid there like that, until Lukas came back. The man's face was unreadable, though quite grim. It was as though he were an executioner, coming to carry out Peter's death sentence.

"Peter..." He said in an oddly level voice, "Come with me." He knew what he was in for now. Standing up, stiff as a board, Peter stepped in front of him.

It wasn't fair. Peter didn't want to talk to everyone. He was fine! Lukas was just lying to them and saying he was sick. There was nothing to worry about...

Right?

...

Everyone was seated in a circle. Toris had pulled out some extra chairs for everyone. All of them waited patiently for Peter to get here.

"Here he is," all of them heard Lukas say. He was leading Peter ahead of him into the center of everyone.

Everyone sat there awkwardly, not sure how to start this. It wasn't every day they had to plan an impromptu intervention. After a little more weird silence, Tino leaned forward himself.

"Peter," he began quietly, smiling so as not to scare the boy, "what happened today at the meeting worried us." He looked him over, and continued. "When we saw you lying there on the floor, we just..."

Berwald stopped him. "Y're not yourself. In f'ct, y've not been yourself, l'tely." Peter felt his cheeks turn red.

"We have been seeing something strange going on. You act different, and you look different, as well," Emil said. "Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately?"

Mathias reached over and took Peter by the arm. "Look, Peter, buddy...We're all here because we're worried about you. We're your friends and family, and we love you! But look at you!"

"Peter..." Lukas stayed where he was. "I've seen you lately. You think I don't know? I know, and I don't like it."

"You...You're all..." Peter didn't get it. They didn't understand! "I don't need help! You're wasting your time with this! I'm fine! I feel fine!"

"Fine? You most certainly don't look fine!" Eduard just about stood up to his feet. "You look sick! It's like I'm looking at a living skeleton!" Eduard would have kept going, were it not for the other two pulling him down.

"Peter, we're just worried that...you've not been eating, have you?" The Sealander couldn't, or rather, wouldn't answer. That certainly wasn't a question they needed to ask.

"Y-you look half your size! There's got to be something wrong! N-no one who does that is normal!" It seemed everyone had a turn now in revealing their feelings with everything.

"Peter..." Tino got to his knees and put his hands on his child's shoulders. "We're just worried about you. Has there been anything going on we don't know about?"

"Y' say there's no pr'bl'm, but th're is. Wh't happened? Did s'me'ne say something about y'?" Funny, how Berwald was right on target. Without saying anything, Peter looked down and nodded. Everyone around him was taken aback. "Wh't did they s'y?"

"I..."Peter looked the other way. "He said I was getting pudgy, and it...it turned out he was right."

"Who said this? Who?" Tino was doing all he can not to shake the boy.

"...Arthur did." Those two words stunned everyone around him into silence. It was thankfully cut short when Berwald stood up.

"W'ld you excuse me, ev'ryone? M' going to go h've a talk w'th Arthur." He strode past all of them, in an oddly stiff manner. The other Nordics knew what that meant.

Berwald was clearly out for blood.

...

Arthur was sitting quietly, doing his embroidery and watching Alfred play a video game, when he heard several loud knocks from the front door.

"Oh...Alfred, you didn't order anything, did you? I'm not expecting visitors." Al looked up and shook his head, before continuing playing. Arthur put down what he was doing and went to answer the door.

"Hello-" He was cut short by a left hook to the face. The Englishman held his face as he stumbled to the ground.

"Blast! That smarts!" That was putting it lightly. Arthur looked up, and saw the deliverer of said punch.

"What the...Berwald? What's going on? What was that for?" The Swede towered over him, but of course, he would do that anyway, even if Arthur wasn't on the floor.

"Y' got some explaining t' do," was all he said.

...

After everything was over and done with, Tino left for his house. Apparently Arthur was there, thanks to Berwald, and whatever happened next was going to happen there. No doubt, it was something the others really didn't want to be further involved with.

Eduard and the rest stayed around the house. He was wiping down the counters in the kitchen when he heard someone approach.

"Hej." The Estonian stopped what he was doing, and turned around to face Mathias.

"Ehh...Thanks for letting us use your room."

Eduard shrugged. "It was nothing, really." He tried sounding nonchalant about it. His restless baby wasn't helping, though.

"Nej, I mean it." The Dane looked down at the Estonian's swollen belly. "So how far...?"

"Seven months." Eduard tried walking away, but he was stopped by Mathias putting him in a headlock.

"Y'know, you ain't a bad guy, for someone who isn't a Nordic." Mathias couldn't help but give Eduard a noogie, while giggling. Eduard broke out after sufficient wiggling.

"Gee, thanks." The pregnant one walked away, while adding, "Just give the word if you guys need something, yeah?" He walked away before hearing Mathias' response.

...

Later, Lukas had snuck out of the house. It didn't say he had to do so, but it was better to be safe than sorry. So, off he went to the nearest forest with everything he needed. He made sure no one followed him.

After finding a good clearing, and setting everything up, Lukas got started. He made sure the three candles he brought were in the correct positions.

"Now...Where was that page?" The Norwegian flipped through until he found spot and read through everything again.

"And say thank you to your Almighty Deity." That was rather odd to be in a book for Arthur. Of course, Lukas figured, 'don't ask, and don't tell'. Everything was in place. The sun had gone down, and night had fallen. He knew the words, and all was together.

He said the chant at each candle like he was supposed to. With everything prepared, Lukas began chanting.

* * *

A lot of you seem to want me to update! I'll do my best to do so, then. And if things are unclear now, like the last segment, they'll be revealed eventually.

And sorry if that "intervention" segment was messy or confusing, that's my bad. Sorry if so.

-Emerald-Shadow-Knight


	12. Provocative

I'm tired. Updates are hard. Eventually I'll have to wrap it all up and have things revealed.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia.

Note: This chapter may contain OOCness (Read: Norway Rage).

* * *

Arthur had been gone for a while. Alfred couldn't even comprehend what exactly was going on. All he knew was that Berwald came in, rather ticked off, and dragged the Englishman away. Something about...Peter?

Come to think of it, Peter had been acting pretty damn off. Whenever Alfred visited him, he was always short with him, and often in a snappish mood. It wasn't like him at all.

Al was wiping the counter tops off, mostly because he had spilled Arthur's tea all over them, when he heard a thud at the front door. Thinking nothing of it, he kept wiping away until it happened again. This time, it was followed by a certain irritated voice.

"Oh, bugger! Alfred! Open the door, would you!" Given Arthur was yelling loud enough to be heard from the kitchen, of course Alfred was going to let him in.

"Artie! You're back! What all happened with you and-" The black eye and messed up hair told Alfred everything. "Oh, jeez..."

"Alfred, be a good lad and fetch me an ice pack?" Arthur tried smiling, but it was rather unconvincing. "It's...best I don't tell you what happened."

...

Early the next morning, Peter woke up to the sound of the door opening. Berwald came in, holding a tray of a simple breakfast. The boy noticed one of his hands was bandaged up. Whatever happened with him and Arthur, it couldn't have been pretty.

"Papa...?" The Swede frowned even more than usual when he set the tray down in front of him.

"Y' need to eat ev'ryth'ng. No sh'rtcuts." Berwald crossed his arms in order to show he was serious. It was nothing special, just toast slathered with butter and a glass of orange juice.

But that was the problem. This was something Peter ruled out a while ago. With this...well, Berwald was practically tormenting him!

Peter looked up, with a pleading look on his face. Berwald wasn't budging, however. With extreme reluctance, Peter picked up the toast and took a small bite.

If he could just take it a little bit at a time, it might be all right. It would take a while longer to finish, but at this point, he didn't really care. He wanted it over and done with.

After he was done with the toast, the boy quickly grabbed the orange juice and drank it as quickly as possible. He then pushed the tray away, and pouted. Berwald only nodded.

"Papa, what happened to your...?" The Swede lifted up his hand, looking it over.

"Arthur's g't a surprisingly th'ck head. M'only going to t'll you that." Berwald turned to go. His footsteps were slow and agonizing.

"G't dressed. Lukas 's coming to w'tch you today." Lukas. Peter wasn't sure, exactly, but he was assuming the Norwegian spilled the beans about everything. Chances were, the boy didn't want to see him today.

In fact, he probably didn't want to see him for a long time.

...

Lukas had left the house already. Emil had gotten up after he left, so now he busied himself while waiting for Mathias to wake up as well.

While making breakfast for the both of them (actually, he intended to throw Mathias' plate into his face), something caught Emil's eye. He didn't remember seeing that bottle before...

He pulled it out, opening it and sniffing the contents. Whatever it was, it smelled like spoiled milk. It looked like anything but, though. The silver-haired man looked the bottle over, seeing Norwegian instructions on the label at the side.

"What in the..." He deciphered the rather scrawly handwriting. Whatever Lukas was planning, he certainly didn't want anyone else to know that easily. He tried his best to read the words, but he couldn't understand all of it.

What he did understand, though, horrified him. Without a second thought, he opened the bottle and dumped the contents down the sink. After rinsing and cleaning out the bottle (he didn't want residue or anything remaining) and scraping off the label, he continued fixing breakfast. At some point, Mathias came down, still yawning.

"Hej. Lukas leave already?" Emil nodded. Well, now he wouldn't get to see the Dane's face covered in egg. What a shame. He was about to say something, when the damn phone started up its obnoxious ringing.

Mathias answered almost immediately, suddenly perked up. "_Hej!_ Lukas?" He answered gleefully. His smile faded almost immediately, so it clearly wasn't Lukas. "Oh, hej. What's up? Nah, I got time to talk. It's just me and Emil here..."

...

Lukas was here, already. Peter didn't dare leave his room. He simply curled up in his blankets, in a futile attempt to warm himself up. He kept his eyes closed, with his head on his pillow.

He didn't look up when the door opened. The person didn't leave right away. Peter didn't need to look up to know it was Lukas.

"Peter." That single word caused the boy to cover himself completely. He didn't even react when his back was poked. He waited, pretending to be asleep, then hearing his uncle sigh in frustration, he heard the bedroom door close.

Some time later, Peter got up and checked on him out of curiosity.

...

Three times. He had gotten the busy signal three times already.

Lukas was getting tired of this. He gripped his mug of coffee tighter as he dialed a fourth time. He practically punched the numbers with his thumb.

"Pick up, pick up, pick up. I know you are home." When the busy signal once again played, the Norwegian snapped. His coffee mug broke in his hand, causing the hot liquid to spill to the floor. The remnants of his mug followed, or at least the remnants that hadn't become embedded into his hand.

Lukas forcibly hung up, then tore the receiver out of the wall, throwing it at the wall opposite him. He knew Berwald and Tino would be upset with him later, but he would explain it to them when they got back.

Out of things to break, he simply opted to bang the walls with his fists, yelling wordlessly.

The whole time, he didn't notice Peter watching him. He just vented his rage. Lukas pounded with his hands, smearing blood, until he finally stopped, and slid to the floor.

The Norwegian didn't care at this point anymore. He just stayed there on his knees, quietly sobbing. He barely noticed a pair of bony arms encircling him in a hug.

...

Peter couldn't believe what he had just seen. Sometimes, he saw Uncle Mathias go into a tirade after drinking. But this was Uncle Lukas, and he was plenty sober.

Whatever he had been raging about, it was serious. Something must have gone wrong. Come to think of it, a lot of things had been going wrong.

Everyone was worried about him, when they didn't need to be. Peter still saw fat rolls on himself each time he looked in the mirror. He was perfectly fine, he knew what he was doing.

It wasn't just him, either. The father of Eduard's baby had yet to step up and take responsibility. Eduard wasn't saying anything on the matter, either. Everyone seemed to be keeping secrets from each other, and Peter didn't like it.

For now, though, the boy only focused on holding his uncle. He didn't know if he would be of any help, but...it was worth a try.

...

Arthur was laying on his bed, with an ice pack over his eye. He sighed, trying to get more comfortable. Of course, his bruises were making sure that wasn't going to happen.

Well, that, and the news he had received was troubling.

Peter had been starving himself. What little he did eat, he had likely thrown up. He exercised like crazy, and had been making up excuses for his recent behavior. The boy had gotten it into his head that he needed to lose weight. And it was obvious who had pushed him down that road.

The child had been destroying himself in that way...and it had been _Arthur's _fault? Had Peter heard him that night?

He hadn't meant anything by that. Yes, Peter had a little chub on him then, but didn't most kids at that age? It wasn't like he swallowed a blimp or anything.

Arthur looked over at the meal Alfred got for him. Chances were it had already gone cold. Arthur didn't think the American's food was completely terrible, he simply wasn't that hungry right now. To think, Peter had been depriving himself of this, one of the very things that cheered the boy up.

But whatever the case was, the Englishman figured it was best to stay away from them for a while. At the least, he didn't want to become a walking trigger for his little brother.

He'd already started this whole thing, there wasn't any need to make things worse.

* * *

Things are...well, they're starting to come together, hopefully. I...well, you know what to do.

-Emerald-Shadow-Knight


	13. Predictable

Oh, gosh, even I can't take it anymore! All right, all right, I'll try to reveal the father in this chapter. I might not do it by name, but I'll try to give good enough hints.

Disclaimer: You know.

* * *

Peter stared at the bowl of plain oatmeal and glass of milk in front of him. He was alone in the house, given Tino and Berwald had gone to the store to get more food for him.

It looked disgusting. He knew what they were doing, but he could outsmart them! He'd stay skinny, no matter what they tried. He confidently shotgunned the milk, and ate the oatmeal as quickly as possible.

When he did so, he ran out of the room to the nearest bathroom. When he tried opening the door, however, it was locked. They were one step ahead of him. They knew he'd try to purge after eating something.

Desperate to get the filth out of him, Peter ran outside, and looked for the most obscure location. He ended up finding a bush far away from the house, and forcibly upchucked right there. He stayed there, on his knees, emptying what little he had in him.

He hated this. He hated his parents for making him eat. He hated Uncle Lukas for tattling on him, but most importantly, he hated...himself.

He hated himself for giving in like this. The internal battle within him was becoming too much. Part of him begged to stop, to eat like a normal person. Another part of him applauded him for getting rid of the offending material inside him.

Peter knew he needed help, but at the same time, he didn't want to get it. He didn't want to become a great big fatso. These two parts inside him were always bickering. Today, it was obvious which side had won this argument, like usual.

The boy walked back to the house. He knew Tino would be weighing him later when they got back. He had to drink some water to try to fool the scale.

...

"Mail's here!" Toris proudly announced the delivery to his fellow Baltics. He looked through the envelopes for anything interesting.

"Bill, bill, junk, Ivan sending us a request to rejoin him, Feliks telling me what's going on...Huh, that's weird. Eduard, you got a letter!" The Estonian came out, his belly bigger than ever.

"Let me see." Eduard looked the letter over, knowing it was what he was waiting for. "No return address. He's surprisingly clever." He was gone almost as soon as he appeared.

Toris and Raivis looked at each other. Whatever he got in the mail, it was important enough to be private.

...

Eduard scanned the letter he received. He almost disregarded the substantial amount of euro he received. He opted to set the money in front of his stomach as he read everything.

"Let's see here...'Eduard, I'm sorry for not writing...' blah blah blah... 'Hope this helps you and the baby...' blah, blah, blah..." It was all things he had been sent before. At least he tried his best.

"Ah, here we are. 'Meet me behind the meeting hall building tonight.'" Eduard looked for the date on the letter, showing it was indeed for tonight. He had the sense to think ahead, that was for sure.

Night was coming soon. It would take a while to get there. He'd probably have to go now, if he wanted to find the father on time. He grabbed his coat and left the house before the other two could say anything.

...

Why was he doing this? Why did he send that letter? He was already here. What was he going to talk about?

Maybe he could...try to tell Eduard what the two of them could do. This was as much his child as it was the Estonian's. He didn't really care about his reputation at this point. He just wanted to be there for the baby.

He smoothed his hair back and took a deep breath. To think it had all come to this. It had meant to be a one night thing. He was lonely, Eduard was lonely. There was drinking involved, then kissing. Before either of them knew it, they were laying in bed, naked.

Of course, there really hadn't been any time to enjoy the afterglow. Eduard had to quickly get dressed, and jump out the window.

He still couldn't believe now, he was soon to be the father of an illegitimate child. The kid was going to have a hard life, without their father around. He stood there, leaning on the wall of the building, wringing his hands. His nerves were getting the best of him.

Maybe he should've had a glass of alcohol before he got here, to calm himself. But then he'd probably not be too coherent. It was either be nervous or be drunk, and neither were completely pleasant.

He heard footsteps. Eduard had come to see him. He looked down, afraid to make eye contact.

"I'm here. I apologize for making you wait." His voice...it sounded surprisingly calm. Well, at least it wasn't yelling or cussing at him.

He took a final deep breath, to steady himself. He then turned around and looked him over. The Estonian's large stomach bulged out, just absolutely swelling with the life the both of them created.

He put a small smile on his face at his potential child, then looked up at Eduard's oddly expressionless face. There were so many things he wanted to say, but everything jumbled up in his throat, and he could only manage to say two words:

"_Hej,_ Eduard."

...

It was already getting dark out. Peter was laying in his bed, curled up in his blankets. Hanatamago was laying on the floor next to him, also curled up into a furry little ball.

He had been able to trick Tino's weight scale. Of course, it had been nearly impossible to hold it in until the Finn left. He didn't want to prove he'd been trying to cheat.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard Tino come in, with a little snack for Peter. He knew Peter couldn't resist a chocolate bar and a carton of milk, eating disorder or not.

"Peter." Hearing his name brought the boy up to a sitting position. He was already looking disdainfully at what had been brought for him. The way he was looking at it, Tino may as well have brought up a bucket of garbage and rotten fish heads.

"Please, Peter? For me?" The boy looked away, clearly not liking that he was being guilted into this. He reached out and snatched the chocolate and milk away, his expression not changing.

"I know you don't like this, but...we just don't want you to do this to yourself. You have many people who love you. Just...please do this for them, please?" Tino had a point, believe it or not.

Peter didn't answer, though, and simply ate his chocolate piece by piece. Each bite felt bitter, and chalky. Drinking the milk did little to help.

Tino left as soon as Peter had finished. Peter knew he and Berwald were worried about him, but they didn't have to practically force him to eat all this horrible food. He knew there was no way he'd throw it up, either. This time of night, it wasn't a good idea.

Feeling bloated, and disgusting, Peter quietly cried himself to sleep that night.

* * *

I now await the impending firestorm.

-Emerald-Shadow-Knight


	14. Perspiration

Goodness, now everyone thinks it's Berwald! I may have not been clear enough in my hints. But either way, no, it isn't Lukas.

Also, Google Translate sucks.

Disclaimer: If I owned Hetalia, all the pairings would be canon.

Note: Again, possible OOC (and again, Norway)

* * *

Mathias closed the door as quietly as he could.

He didn't want anyone to know where he'd been. Of course, he didn't leave a note, but somehow, they always found out where he'd go. This time, however, he didn't have alcohol breath this time.

The Dane quietly tiptoed through the dark house. He was just about to the stairs when the room he was in lit up. Mathias turned his head to look at the eerily calm face of a certain Norwegian man.

"Lukas! Uh..._Hej. _What are you doing up?" Lukas didn't answer. He simply got up, and slowly walked towards him.

"I was going to ask you the same thing." The Norwegian crossed his arms, and looked up at him. "Tell me where you were. And don't lie. Chances are I already know."

"So...why are you asking?" Mathias began to walk backwards. Lukas simply followed him.

"I want to make sure you're telling the truth." His face remained unchanging. "So tell me. Where were you?" Mathias didn't answer right away.

"Tell me!" His sudden change in volume made Mathias flinch. "You were with him, weren't you! You couldn't bear to be separated from that illegitimate spawn!" The Norwegian looked as though he'd fled from Hell itself. "That's right! I know! I know it's you!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down, Lukas!" The Dane had no idea how to calm the Norwegian down. He was acting worse than in the mornings, before he got his coffee.

"Don't you dare tell me to calm down! You think it's a secret, but we know! You know, I know, Emil knows, and it's quite obvious Eduard knows! You thought you could get away with it? Well, guess what Mathias, you didn't!" Lukas shrieked until he was completely red in the face. Mathias could see tears streaming down his face.

"Hey, come on, Lukas. Let me explain-" The Dane tried reasoning with his companion, but his hands were swatted away.

"_**There is nothing to explain!**_ You slept with him, now you're to be a father to some filthy bastard child! If this gets out to the other countries, the Nordics will be ruined!" Mathias reached for Lukas again, with the same result, followed by a, "Don't touch me!" Lukas turned to go.

"Lukas! Lukas, wait!"

_**"Går till helvete!"**_ The Norwegian went upstairs and slammed the door, leaving Mathias alone. Not knowing what else to do, he turned and left the house, a different destination in store.**  
**

...

Early the next morning, Peter laid in his rumpled up blankets, still not getting sufficient heat. Hanatamago was already downstairs, her yipping already incessant.

"Whoa, jeez! Wow, you're almost as annoying than Tony when he goes on his probing sprees." There was then a familiar voice. The boy sat up, listening better.

"Hey, calm down! I don't got any dog treats! Man, you're energetic-whoa! Hey, let go!" Peter quietly got dressed, and went downstairs, where he saw Alfred trying to get his bomber coat away from the dog.

"Oh, hey, Petey! Hey, can you get your dog to stop? This is my favorite coat!" The boy gently picked Hana up, and pried her off. Hanatamago then sped off, presumably to dig more holes.

"There you go." He looked up at Alfred, who was already bringing out a bag full of what smelled like food.

"So anyway, I'm supposed to be watching you today. Gotta make sure you eat and stuff." He pulled out a bag of Pizza Rolls, which made Peter flinch.  
"Yeah, I know what you're thinking, Peter. But you gotta try."

Peter didn't look him in the eyes. He simply looked at Al's feet as he walked towards the kitchen. He didn't dare look up when he heard the bag open.

"Hey, where's your microwave, so I can cook these?" Peter shrugged. He figured Tino and Berwald didn't have one. "Actually, that's okay, I'll use the oven this time. Heard they're better made that way than in the microwave."

Peter watched him press buttons, turn dials, separate the rolls, everything. While waiting the few minutes for it to cook, Alfred went into the den.

"Jeez, you and your parents need to upgrade your TV, Petey. Think maybe you should save up for a flat screen?" Why bother? Peter knew getting something that expensive was a waste. Yes, their current model was old and clunky, but it got a decent amount of channels.

At some point, the boy stood up. Waiting for the dreaded Pizza Rolls to be cooked was absolute torture. It would've been bad enough before, but now he was simply unable to stand the torment.

Peter went to go see what Hanatamago was doing. Of course, she was in the den with Alfred. She ran around his feet, sniffing them profusely. Alfred himself was leaning toward the television, trying to get a better look.

"Huh. Guess this is a little better..." He flipped the channels. "Oh, sweet! You guys get Springer! Whole bunch of smackdowns happen on this show." The American stayed on that channel, watching the madness that was Jerry Springer unfold, even chanting with the audience.

Peter wasn't really paying much attention. He didn't care much for shows that weren't animated. In fact, lately, he didn't care much for TV nowadays. He stared at the TV until he heard the oven ding.

"Oh, pizza rolls are done!" Alfred got up to fix their plates, with Peter following. He watched as he fixed plates for the both of them.

"Now, I'm just gonna give you three of them, all right? And you gotta eat all of them. I'm gonna go back into the den to watch TV, but I'll check on you during commercial breaks, okay?"

Well, the boy saw nothing wrong with that. At least Alfred wouldn't breathe down his neck with this filth in front of him. When he went back into the room, Peter sat down in front of those rolls.

They mocked him. They smelled so delicious, but they promised nothing but fat and grease and bloating him up. He knew that if he threw him away, Alfred or someone else would find out. So then what was he going to do?

Peter saw Hanatamago come up to him and stand on her hind legs. She put her paws on his leg, wagging her tail and looking at him. It didn't take a genius to know she was begging.

He wasn't sure why she would come to him, but then he figured that she knew he'd give her something.

Feeding her Pizza Rolls wouldn't kill her, right? It might make her sick, but not outright kill her. It wasn't like a Pizza Roll would make her explode or anything.

The very thought of a dog exploding from a Pizza Roll was interesting, actually. Peter wasn't going to see that happen anytime soon, though. Quickly, and making sure Alfred didn't see him, he slipped a roll to Hanatamago.

The damn dog nearly bit his fingers off from snatching it. The boy watched as she gobbled it down, then silently pleaded for another. Again, he fed it to her.

When all three had been eaten by the teeny puppy, Peter put the plate in the sink. He then joined Alfred in the den, quietly watching whatever was on.

Shortly after, he wished he hadn't. At some point, Alfred yelled out, "Whoa, look at the size of that fatso!" Those very words caused something within Peter to break.

The American's words echoed through his mind. He could feel himself lock up, sweating and shivering. Alfred's voice turned into Arthur's. It repeated, mocking and bullying him. Peter wanted to run, but knew he couldn't. He couldn't escape the voice inside him, calling him fat and demanding he lose weight.

The voice kept changing into others, until it switched to his own.

"_Look at you, Peter! Are you such a big tub of lard that even **Alfred** is pointing it out? You'll never lose your weight! You'll be a whale forever!" _Peter grabbed his head, and lurched forward. At this point, Alfred finally looked over at him.

"Whoa, hey! What's wrong, Peter?" The older of the two tried taking the boy into his arms, to no avail. "What's the matter? Was it something I-"

It then dawned on Alfred. "Oh, shit..." He then stood back up and ran for the phone. "Uh, hey, you two! Um, I'll put it nicely. I think I broke Peter. What do I do?"

Peter sat there, trembling and hearing the cruel, nasty voices in his head, over and over. He didn't remember what happened after that. All he remembered was that when he came to his senses, he was laying on the couch. Looking around, he saw Alfred was gone.

...

Eduard heard a knock at the door. He wasn't in any mood to answer it. He was perfectly content laying here on the floor, staring at his enormous baby bump.

"Nobody's home!" He was partially right. Toris and Raivis had gone out, and he was alone in the house. The person at the door persisted.

"I said, nobody's home!" More knocking. Eduard, frustrated, hefted himself to his feet and waddled to the door. "Exactly what part of nobody's home do you not understa-" He was cut short at the sight of who it was.

"_Hej, _Eduard," Mathias said while scratching his head. "The other two out?"

The Estonian facepalmed. The Dane must've had a short attention span or something. "_Jah_, they are. Now exactly what is it you need now? Tell me what you need to say, and then go the hell away!"

Mathias stopped, and looked at him with an annoyed expression. "Whoa, hej! Pretty sure you shouldn't be talking to the father of your kid like that."

Eduard snorted. "Well, I'm pretty sure all you did was donate the necessary sperm." He crossed his arms, and looked at Mathias again. He sighed. "Toris and Raivis won't be back until morning. You can stay for a while if you want." He moved away from the door, letting the taller man into the house.

"Hej, thanks! Uh...nice place you got here?" The Estonian shrugged. He didn't need to suck up to him.

"It works. Has everything the three of us need to survive." He looked down at his stomach. "Well, four of us." Eduard felt Mathias' arms encircle him, holding that part of him close.

"You sure got big these last few months. Guess you got a Viking inside of you!" The Dane's goofy laughter followed, and Eduard was pretty sure he was doing that dopey smile of his.

"Funny. That seemed to have been the case a few months ago." Neither of them were sure what was going on here. Even though the both of them weren't together (along with the fact that one teased the other about not being Nordic, and never would be), they didn't seem to be too angry with each other.

"Hej, if you don't want me here, I can go..." Eduard shook his head.

"No...You can stay here if you want. I'd like some company." For all the Estonian knew, Raivis was getting his head stuck in a sheep's mouth again. "Come on."

The two of them made their way into Eduard's room, which was far too messy even for Mathias. The both of them sat down on the mattress, not looking at each other.

"So...when are you gonna be..." Mathias started.

"In a month," Eduard answered the question for him. "Unless the baby's overdue, then they might have to do surgery." He subconsciously felt the Dane's hand rub over his stomach.

"You, uh...you want me to spend the night? I can sleep on the floor, if that's what y'want. I can leave before the other two get back, too." Eduard slowly nodded. Like he said earlier, he didn't mind company.

Even if that company fucked him and knocked him up a few months back.

...

Lukas banged his fists against the table. He had his face down on the wood, so any tears he cried pooled around him. His muffled screams raised in volume as he banged harder.

He didn't get it. He didn't want Mathias by Eduard. He wanted Eduard to go away, period! But of course, that wasn't going to happen. The Estonian was going to stay whether he wanted him to, or not.

But then again, it wasn't like he hadn't done anything about it. He had done what he needed. It was all a matter of waiting now.

Yes...all he had to do was wait.

* * *

So...Chances are I'll have to figure out how to fix what I'm writing here later, at some point. If I start confusing myself, let me know.

-Emerald-Shadow-Knight


	15. Putrid

Disclaimer: Though we're still alive, still don't own Hetalia.

* * *

The two were laying in bed when Mathias heard the front door slam. His eyes widened when he realized it was probably Toris and Raivis.

"Eduard," the Dane whispered, gently shaking the sleeping person next to him. "Eduard, wake up. I think they're back." Eduard was slow to awaken. When he did, his hands immediately went to his stomach.

"Go out the window," he mumbled. His hands ran over the entirety of his swollen belly. Mathias nodded, and stumbled off the bed, right onto the floor. He made more noise than he cared to admit.

"And could you be a little more quiet about it?!" Eduard hissed. Mathias put up his hands as if to say, 'Don't get mad at me'. The Dane then got up and made his way to the window.

"See you later, okay? And Eduard..." Mathias' expression dropped considerably. "...Sorry." After some effort, he opened it, and crawled out. He'd gotten a fair way away when the other two Baltics came to check on Eduard.

"Eduard? Eduard, are you all right? We heard a noise from inside here." The Estonian readjusted to lay on his back. He looked up at the ceiling. He laid as still as he could.

"I'm fine. And I think you're hearing things." The other two came in and looked around. Toris scratched his head in confusion.

"Are you sure?" Eduard rolled his eyes. He then silently shooed them out of his room. After they left, he was left alone, gently massaging his swollen belly.

Though it had been several months ago, he still remembered the night somewhat. He remembered drinking, then some talking, and at some point, there was clothes being torn off, lips locking...before either of them knew it, both were laying in bed, looking up at the ceiling.

Eduard could've sworn at one point that he suggested the two of them do it more often. Of course, both of them knew it wasn't going to happen. They knew a relationship wouldn't be feasible.

Their history was too rocky as it was, and it would no doubt cause a ruckus at meetings. So for now, everything was in secret.

...

"Peter...Peter, do you know what happened when Alfred was here?" Peter was huddled up in a thick blanket, not looking at Tino. The boy shook his head.

"He thinks he caused you to have an attack." That much he remembered. There was Springer, Alfred saying something about a fatso, then Peter freaking out, then nothing until waking up. "He's...he's going to stay away from you for a while."

The boy looked up. "Now, before you get any assumptions, he suggested it himself. He thought that if he stayed away for a while, you might not have this happen again."

"I...Peter, if you're getting this bad, then..." Berwald appeared in the doorway, and leaned on it. He silently nodded to Tino.

"Peter, you're getting worse. If you don't get any help, there's a chance you could..." Peter smacked his hands down on the surface in front of him. He was making sure his displeasure was known now.

"But I _don't _need help! I keep telling you, I'm fine!" At some point, however, a part of Peter wasn't sure if he really was. Tino hung his head, and simply walked out of the room, Berwald following him.

"I don't know, Berwald. He keeps denying it. Do you think we should...?" When the two were in the kitchen, the Swede answered his question without a word. He took hold of the phone and handed it to him.

"I...He's probably too far for some kind of treatment center, maybe we do need to put him in the hospital." Reluctantly, Tino began punching in the numbers, his hands shaking as he did so.

...

Later that day, Toris and Raivis were watching some old TV show. Or rather, Toris was. Raivis was simply reading one of those romance novels he was so fond of. The older of the two was a little unnerved at how deeply he was reading into all that sappy, melodramatic hoo-ha.

"Raivis, how many times have you read that?" Raivis looked up, shrugged, then went back to reading.

Well, as long as it wasn't that one so-called "erotica" book Alfred kept trying to get them to read. The things he said about it not only turned them off immediately, it made their skin crawl.

The two sat in silence, interrupted only when Eduard came out, probably to get something to eat. Neither of them said anything as he got out the ingredients for banana curry soup.

Toris stood up and walked over, trying to get a better look over the Estonian's shoulder. "Need any help?" Eduard simply shook his head. Raivis then put his book down and joined his fellow Baltics.

"You sure? You don't want to c-cut yourself by accident, do you?" Eduard stopped chopping up the bananas in front of him and sighed in frustration.

"Why do you two think that just because I'm about to have a baby, that renders me helpless and invalid?" He spoke with an irritated tone to his voice. "About the only thing that's changed is that I can't have fish."

Raivis and Toris looked at each other. They knew Eduard liked his fish. He was smart enough to avoid it during pregnancy, though. "Now if you don't mind, go back to what you were doing."

The two of them complied, and for a little while, not a whole lot happened. There was the occasional sigh from Eduard, followed by him rubbing his back.

Then there was a brief, but loud shriek. Toris and Raivis turned to see Eduard doubled over.

"Eduard! What happened?" The Estonian looked at them as if to say 'what does it look like?'. Or it seemed to be, given he also appeared to be in immense pain.

"Oh no...Raivis, go get the car started," Toris said as he handed his keys to the younger of the two. Raivis nodded, and ran off. Toris then went and put an arm around Eduard. "All right, now. Let's get you to the hospital, we'll call Tino-"

"**_No!_**" The brown-haired man jumped at the sudden shout. "We are not calling Tino! You call Tino, he'll no doubt bring the other Nordics with him! I do not want that right now!" In a sense, Eduard actually did. That way, the baby's father could be there, without it seeming suspicious.

Of course, if he agreed, and they all came, then Mathias would worry. He had too much on his plate right now, what with Peter and his problem. Sudden, imminent fatherhood would only complicate things for him.

What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him, right?

...

"Yeah, hi. Tino?" Alfred was whispering into his phone, given the situation. "Peter's gonna go into the hospital? Sorry, I'm kind of at my house right now, and I'm trying to hide from Tony. So tell me what's going on."

Alfred listened to Tino's situation, nodding and going "uh-huh" as he did. "Hey, listen, I know I said I'd stay away, but if you need someone for support...What's that? Well, if you got a beef with him, I'm not bringing him! Don't want a fight breaking out at your house."

Even Alfred knew better than to bring Arthur with him over to Tino and Berwald's. "He's going in tomorrow? All right. I'll watch the house for you, then. Sound good?"

Then the door to the closet opened. Alfred looked up to see the little grey alien holding a large glowing stick. The American lifted up his phone one last time.

"I'll see you later, Tino," he said in a normal voice, then hung up. "All right, where do you want me?"

* * *

I figured since there wasn't an update in a while, I need to wrap this story up in a few chapters, and it's February, I needed to update.

You know the drill.

-Emerald-Shadow-Knight


	16. Perishing

A few important things to note about this chapter: 1) I would not read the last segment of this chapter if you're a fan of Norway, 2) This would've been the chapter where the father's identity was revealed 3) A lot of this was, again, written at different times, so some may be choppy and confusing, and 4) You're all going to hate me for this chapter. I can feel it.

Disclaimer: Don't own it, never will own it.

* * *

Peter woke up, slowly. He was feeling extremely groggy, and he was still cold. He dragged himself out of bed, and got dressed. He didn't even bother to fix his shirt, which he had put on backwards.

After he was somewhat properly dressed, Peter dragged himself out into the hall. He lifted his head up to try to smell breakfast. Oddly enough, there was nothing. But he was sure there would be something they were making to shove down his throat. Not sure what else to do, Peter went downstairs.

The sight that greeted him was unexpected, and unwelcome. He saw Tino about to close a suitcase, with the other Nordics, and Alfred sitting down at the table. All of them looked up when the boy came into the room.

"What's going on?" His sight went to everyone, one by one. All of them had an expression that seemed to want to say something. Tino then closed his suitcase, and looked at him with a horribly pained face. Everyone else looked away.

"I'm sorry, Peter," was all he whispered.

...

That afternoon, against his wishes, Peter was admitted to the hospital. He tried to struggle with his relatives, but Mathias was able to hold him in place until they got there. Alfred stayed home, promising to watch the house.

Now, here he was, in a hospital bed with a feeding tube in him. He stared out the window, not looking at his parents.

"Peter, I-" Tino reached out for the boy, but Peter scooched away, not wanting to talk. Tino, seeing the way he was acting, sighed in defeat. There was no way to convince him that this would help him. The Finn shook his head, then turned to his partner.

"Berwald, I'm going to go for a walk around the hospital. Can you keep an eye on him?" The Swede nodded, and Tino walked out of the room. As he wandered, he saw all the other patients in their rooms, with their loved ones. Some had eating disorders just like Peter did. He looked in each one, hearing some giggle, and hearing others cry.

Before he knew it, the young man had walked into the Maternity Ward without noticing. He saw many people in their beds, in various stages of labor. Some were just starting out, others were already pushing.

He then heard the screaming of someone very familiar. Tino rushed to the source of the sound, and saw a face he recognized.

"Keep calm, Eduard. You're doing great," he heard Toris say as he rubbed his Baltic brother's back. Eduard was sitting on a bed in front of him, panting and sweating.

"How does it feel? A-are you going to be okay?" Raivis was rubbing Eduard's thighs, looking at his huge baby bump.

"Hurts..." The Estonian whispered, before going back to groaning in pain. Tino wasn't sure exactly what to do. Make himself known, or go back and be with Peter. He decided to take the former route.

"Eduard? Is that you?" All three of them turned to look at him. Eduard's face lit up in joy at seeing his friend, despite the agonizing pain he was in.

"Tino! H-hi...!" The Estonian fell back, once again gripped in horrid pain. The Finn flinched, hearing him gasp then cry in agony.

In all their years knowing each other, Tino never really saw his best buddy like this. He watched as Toris moved back and wiped his forehead with a cloth. Eduard himself gripped the sheets under him. He grit his teeth, going through his process, before relaxing.

"Are your contractions really bad, Eduard?" Tino came into the room, putting a hand next to his. Eduard looked at him, then nodded.

"Waiting until I go into the delivery room, and then...Then the baby will be born." He gave a tired smile, as if to tell all of them he'd be all right. "Why are you here, anyway?"

The Finn looked away. "We admitted Peter for his eating disorder. He's staying until he recovers enough." The Estonian's eyes widened, and Raivis got up.

"Where is he? Can we see him?" Tino nodded, starting to lead the Latvian out. Toris stood up, intending to follow him.

"We'll be back soon, all right, Eduard?" Toris said, reassuring Eduard, intending to make good on this promise. He figured it wasn't best to leave someone in labor all alone, but right now he and Raivis needed to see Peter.

...

"Peter?" The boy turned to look at his old pal Raivis. His face became the complete opposite of what it was.

"Raivis! Hi there!" Peter carefully, but happily reached out to him. Raivis happily obliged, and sat next to him.

"I heard what was going on. Are y-you going to be okay?" There wasn't really a positive answer, but for now the two boys were happy and cheery. Toris stood in the doorway, approached by an unexpected person.

Mathias looked at him with a puzzled look on his face. The two spoke in hushed whispers, before the Dane's eyes widened. He ran out of the room towards the Maternity Ward before Toris could stop him.

The Latvian talked to his younger friend for quite a while. For now, things were normal. Tino, Berwald, and the other Nordics looked on, glad that Peter was able to feel a little better.

At some point, Tino was reassured that Peter could be left with the others for awhile, and went to go see where his fellow Nordic had gotten. He found him standing outside Eduard's room, looking grim.

"Mathias! What happened?" The other Nordic took a deep breath, and looked at him.

"I, uh...'s no easy way to say this..." Mathias scratched his head as he talked. "During delivery, there had to be, I don't know, something wrong with the baby, or with Eduard, but..."

He was interrupted by a loud shriek erupting from the room. It started out as a shrill, elongated, "No!" before transitioning into repeating, "Why, why, why, me?". By the time Tino got inside, the poor man was whimpering.

"Eduard! Are you okay?" The Estonian man was weeping, doctors struggling to calm him down. There was so much blood, and there was no baby.

No, Eduard certainly didn't look okay.

...

All the visitors were now in the waiting room. Peter had since fallen asleep, but not before being told what had happened. They just felt he needed to know.

There had been no known cause as to what happened to Eduard's baby. Whenever he let someone touch his belly, the little one inside kicked with enthusiasm. Each checkup they had gone to, everything checked out fine. So what could have happened?

"How's he doing, Toris?" Raivis said as his Baltic Brother joined them.

"He's sleeping now. They were able to get him stable, and now he's getting some rest." Toris looked at all of them, and added, "Do any of you want to see him?"

The group exchanged glances, saying nothing. Finally, Tino stood up with Raivis, and nodded. The two followed him, into Eduard's room.

Indeed, the blond man was asleep. His breathing was amplified by the machines he was hooked up to. He looked so pale.

"They were able to stop the bleeding, but...It sounds as though the baby was stillborn. I think...I think he might start up again when he wakes up. If not, then...we might see the baby."

"Poor Eduard. I hope he's all right..."

"I don't think he'll ever be all right. He may heal physically, but emotionally..." Tino could almost see tears flowing down the Estonian's cheeks. He knew the nightmare was real. A nightmare every expectant mother feared.

...

Mathias had sneaked away from the other Nordics. He claimed he needed to use the bathroom, and they somehow bought the story. Quietly, he went into the direction, then made his way into another room.

"May I help you?" The presiding nurse took a look at the Dane, seeming suspicious.

"Eh, _ja_. That stillborn kid, Von Bock's...can I see it?" Mathias scratched his head, embarrassed and wondering if this was a good idea.

"Are you related to the deceased child?" Mathias looked down, then nodded. The nurse let him in, closing the door behind him. The baby in front of him seemed to be sleeping.

"Uh...Hej," he whispered. He approached quietly, as if he thought the child would awaken. "I heard from one of your uncles. I guess you didn't make it, huh?"

He didn't know if it was allowed, but he gently placed a finger under the stillborn's hand. A pink blanket. Eduard would've had a beautiful daughter.

"But hej. I know you did your best. Sometimes these things just happen, you know? Still, your mom really wanted ya..." Mathias couldn't take it anymore. He bit his lip, swallowing and holding back tears.

"...And so did I. Kid, you may have been unplanned, but you weren't a mistake. Far from it." He took his thumb and finger, and held that little hand. The child had grown cold in the time she had left her mother's body.

"When I heard Eduard was expecting, I was shocked. I mean, come on, it was a one-night stand. What were the chances of him gettin' knocked up?" The Dane put his hand under the baby's body, gently lifting her up. He knew this was a bad idea, but he figured he'd put the child back.

"Then I got excited, then I realized. There'd be no way I could take care of you. I had to keep my mouth shut, and Eduard had to be a single parent. Ya know how bad that made me feel?"

Mathias held the baby close. To think, this was the closest he would ever get to her. "Still, I knew you'd be beautiful. You look a lot like your mother. I got no idea what your eye color is, but I guess it's the same as mine."

He couldn't hold it in anymore. Mathias felt a couple of tears slide down his cheeks. He normally didn't show this side of himself, but this was different. It wasn't fair, just not fair at all.

"I know I couldn't tell everyone the truth, but still. We all wanted to see you grow up, especially me. I'd say I was your uncle, but deep down...both Eduard and I know who I really am. It was necessary, but still, it really fucking hurts!" Mathias started getting choked up.

"Kid...wherever your soul is, make sure you wait for me and Eduard? Maybe then, we can be a real family? Who knows." The Dane set the baby back down. He looked at her now, simply crying silent tears. Even in death, his daughter was so beautiful.

However, unknown to the bereaved father, he was being watched. Lukas had quietly followed him here, and was looking at him through the window in the door. He glared with contempt even he was unaware of possessing. Was he angry at Eduard for seducing Mathias? Angry at Mathias for taking the bait? Maybe he was mad at them both.

...

Later, everyone had gone to lunch, except Lukas. He had snuck back to the Maternity Ward, where Eduard was.

The man was still sleeping. Good. The Norwegian approached him, looking upon him with anger, and lovelorn jealousy. How dare Eduard take away his precious Mathias, and conceive a bastard child with him. Lukas wanted none of that.

Well, no matter. The filthy hellspawn had been dealt with. Now it was time to be rid of the one that housed it. Quietly, Lukas reached into his sleeve, and pulled out a knife he was somehow able to hide away (even he had no idea how he snuck this in). He stood at Eduard's bedside.

"You," he whispered to the comatose man. "You keep trying to join our ranks. You meddle in our affairs, you took away the love of my life..." He raised the knife above his head. "Well, no longer. This ends here for you."

The Norwegian was about to plunge the blade into the Estonian's neck, when he felt a hand grab his wrist. Before turning to look, he heard a quiet, yet stern voice.

"Lukas Bondevik."

* * *

I'm just going to leave the chapter at this. I've done enough adding and editing, since this was first written a good while ago. I figured, regardless of what's in this chapter, or how good, I figured to publish it, and deal with any flames or whatnot that come my way.

You know the drill, regardless of what you wish to say.

-Emerald-Shadow-Knight


	17. Painless

Once again, I wrote parts of this chapter at different times, so again, probably choppy and confusing.

This chapter won't have a whole lot of Peter in it, but hopefully he'll have more of a role next chapter.

Note: This chapter contains possible OOC Finland (For good reason, as you'll see in the chapter)

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia.

* * *

Lukas turned to look at the source of the voice, and saw the face of his younger brother. Emil was clearly angered by what he just saw.

"Look at what has become of you, Lukas. Has your jealousy distorted your sense of right and wrong? Now you resort to murdering a mother robbed of their child when you don't get your way?"

The Norwegian wrestled free of his grasp. "You don't understand, Emil. He took Mathias away from me, right under our noses! Then he had it in him to conceive with him! He'll probably do anything to become one of us!"

Emil didn't back down. "That is where you are wrong. Mathias is not yours. He never was. The man's an idiot, but even he has a sense of honor. Eduard himself simply needed someone to love him. He seems to have suffered enough."

Both of them looked at the man in the bed. He didn't stir once, like he didn't hear them. Emil looked back at Lukas, and gave him an accusatory look. "The child's death...that was your doing, wasn't it?"

Lukas glared back at him, trying to think of something to counter with. The Icelandic man continued. "That day, when you went to get Peter...You were looking through his books, I heard. You wanted a spell to get rid of that unborn child. Am I wrong, Lukas?"

He wasn't wrong. Lukas had indeed been looking for something of that effect. He wanted to find something that made it look like a natural stillbirth. The Englishman's house had everything.

Lukas crossed his arms. "And what are you going to do about it? Are you going to tattle on me, brother dear?" He sometimes used that sentiment with Emil when he was pissed with him.

Emil didn't seem affected by it. "I believe I will. You can't keep this from the others, forever. It will blow up in your face sooner or later, anyway." The Norwegian wasn't sure if his brother was serious or just scaring him.

...

"Peter? Are you awake?" The next day, Tino had come by himself. Peter was laying in his bed, looking mopey as ever. He didn't dare look at him.

"Oh, Peter, are you still upset at being here?" No answer. The Finn took his seat at the child's bedside, trying to coax him to turn his head.

"I know you're not happy here, but you have to be here. At least, until we know you're getting better." Still no answer. Tino had a feeling the boy was making the pouty lips, though.

"I hate it here," was all Tino heard. He resisted the urge to sigh. He knew that. He just wished Peter would realize this was for the best.

"Yes, I know, but...Listen. I'll come back and see if you're ready to talk, all right?" No reply. Tino got up, gently smoothed the boy's hair, and left for the Maternity Ward.

"Eduard? I'm here! How are you-" The Finn was almost taken aback at what he saw. Eduard was standing at the window, not turning his head. Mathias was there, speaking in a hushed voice.

"Eduard? Eduard, you should be in bed resting." Tino moved to keep out of their sight. The Dane reached to put a hand on his shoulder, and finally then, Eduard turned around.

His eyes were a dull, lifeless shade of green. His face looked somber, and pale. Tino saw his hospital gown was lifted up, revealing his scars from where the Estonian man had been operated on.

Truly, this was a man who had lost the will to live. He had no baby, and surely this was the worst thing for a once expectant parent. Tino watched as Mathias led Eduard back to his bed. He smoothed out his hair, trying to comfort him. The younger man himself didn't really look at him.

"You should at least try to lay down. I know you're going through a hard time, but you need your rest." Eduard didn't respond, instead opting to touch his now flat stomach.

"Eduard..." The Finn had a feeling of what was going on. Gently, Mathias removed his companion's hands from his stomach. Eduard finally looked up at him.

"...Where is she?" The words came out as a raspy whisper. Tino had a feeling he knew who he was talking about. He kept quiet, though, for risk of being caught eavesdropping.

"She's...she's gone, Eduard. She didn't make it." Eduard looked at him, still dull-eyed.

"...Gone? She can't be." Mathias didn't seem to know what to tell him. All he did was put his arms around him. The Baltic seemed not to notice. His back was rubbed for a little while, then Mathias got up.

"I'll be back soon, all right? I'm going to go check on Peter." As soon as he was out in the hallway again, Tino came out from hiding. The Dane caught sight of him, and frowned.

"_Hej. _You come to check on Eduard, too?" Tino nodded. He wanted to ask what just happened, but then that could prove he was watching them. "He's real broken, you know?" Mathias shook his head. "Anyway, how's Peter?"

"He's still mad at us." Tino looked over at Eduard, who was still looking out of it, and got an idea.

...

"Hey, Peter? Hope you don't mind Mister Eduard's eating with us today." Peter looked up at those who entered.

"You got him, Mathias?" The Danish man came in pushing a wheelchair, containing a very sad looking Eduard. "Okay, put him in that chair." Mathias gently lifted the man out, setting him next to the bedridden boy.

"Hi," Peter managed in a tired voice. Eduard merely gave a wave of his hand. He didn't even look at him. Peter looked at how flat his stomach was now. It looked so different without a baby inside him.

"So who gets what, Tino? We got to make sure they at least try some of it." Tino handed the other man what was apparently a slice of beef with mashed potatoes.

"They can share, Mathias." Peter looked at the plate set in front of him. He then looked at the Estonian, who his uncle was now trying to feed.

"Come on, Eduard. You have to at least try." The Baltic was not complying, rather he was turning his head away.

Mathias sighed. He gently took a hold of the boy's face and turned it into his direction. Still, Eduard refused.

After a few tries, both Nordics gave up. Mathias told Tino they could try again later. Both men then went out into the hallway, to discuss other matters. As soon as they did, Tino's phone rang. He checked for any messages, before turning it off. He didn't want to catch hell from the staff.

There was one, from Emil. Apparently, he wanted to talk to Tino as soon as possible.

...

When they were gone, Eduard looked at Peter. The boy really was bony-looking. It hadn't been his imagination back then.

"Um...How are you doing, Mister Eduard?" The Estonian said nothing, just turning his eyes on that nasty food hospitals were known to serve. Slowly, he reached out towards Peter's plate and took hold, cutting up the meat with a fork.

"What are you doing? I don't..." Eduard seemed to ignore him, stabbing a piece and poking it up to the boy's mouth. When Peter refused, he just poked harder.

"Peter. Please. For me?" The words confused him. What was his reason, unless...

"Is this because of what happened to your baby, Mister Eduard?" The Estonian went back to being silent. Peter took that as a yes. He wasn't sure why, but he then opened his mouth, allowing the other man to feed him.

Slowly, the boy chewed. He hated the fact that he had to eat. In this case, however, he supposed he could swallow his pride for a broken-hearted man, just this once.

Both Nordic men had finished talking, watched quietly from the doorway. Neither dared say anything to ruin this moment. What they were witnessing was quite possibly a rare moment of vulnerability.

Or perhaps Eduard was desperately trying to fill the gaping hole in his heart, left by his stillborn baby. He gave Peter a few more bites of food, then set the plate back down.

Both men now decided to come in. "Come on, Eduard. Time to take you back to your room." Mathias led the Baltic man back into his wheelchair, and wheeled him back.

When the other two were gone, Tino turned his phone back on, and dialed a number. He waited as it rang, then...

"Hi, Emil. You wanted to talk to me? About Lukas? No, I'm not sitting down, just tell me everything, all right?"

...

Later that night, all five Nordics were at home, cleaning up after dinner. Or rather, Tino was cleaning up, and the other four were outside drinking. As he hummed to himself, he saw Lukas enter the kitchen for another beer.

Slowly, Tino stopped what he was doing, and reached his arm towards the other side of the counter. "Oh, Lukas, there you are!" The Norwegian man looked at him, his face betraying no emotion. The Finn's own remained oddly cheery. "Could you do something for me?"

Lukas remained at his spot. "What do you need, Tino?" If he needed something done, he could probably get Mathias or Emil to do it for him.

Tino reached over more, taking hold of the handle of a butcher knife he just cleaned. "Do me a favor..." He raised said knife up to his face, flat sides facing them both, "...and get out of my house."

He raised the knife further. Lukas' eyes widened, he walked backward into the hallway before stumbling. Tino lunged and swung the knife down, just barely missing him.

"Tino! Tino, what are you...!" He flattened up against the wall, before running off completely in the other direction. He stumbled again and fell to the floor. Wide-eyed, he looked up and saw the Finn point the knife at him.

"Emil told me everything, Lukas!" He shook the blade at him. "He told me what you did! I can't believe you!"

Lukas was taken back with shock. So the Icelandic man had told him everything. He tried reasoning with him. "Tino, you know I had the best interests for us. He isn't one of us, you know that! If that child was born, it would've spelled disaster for all of us!"

Tino's grip on his butcher knife tightened. He really wasn't in the mood to hear excuses, especially not from this...this murderer! "Nordic or not, Lukas, he's still my best friend. He's miserable without his baby! I can't believe you'd do such a thing! I thought you were better than that..."

Hot tears began to spill from Tino's eyes. He grit his teeth, raising his knife again. Lukas got to his feet and started running, right out of the house. The other three watched him sprinting away, with Tino stopping at the door. He leaned against the doorway, letting his knife drop to the ground with a clatter.

"Wh't happened, Tino? Wh't's going on?" Berwald stood up and was at his partner's side. Tino clung to him and wiped his face onto his bigger partner's chest.

"It's a long story, Berwald." Mathias and Emil were up to their feet as well. Emil seemed to already know what happened. Mathias, however, was hopelessly confused.

"What story? And why's Lukas running off?" Everyone turned to him, with the Icelandic man taking hold of his arm.

"Mathias. There is something you need to know about Eduard's baby." Besides him knowing it was the Dane who fathered her.

...

About a week later, Tino received news that Eduard had been released from the hospital. Judging from what he was told, he was home now. He was still gloomy and depressed, however.

When he went for a visit, he saw Toris and Raivis at the couch, watching TV. When they saw him walk in, Toris stood up to greet him.

"Tino! Hi there. I'll go check and see if he's awake." The brown-haired man opened the door to Eduard's room, and looking in, simply said, "Huh."

"What is it Toris? Is he still s-sleeping?" Raivis put down the remote and looked over. Toris closed the door and shook his head.

"No...He's actually not in there." Tino grew concerned, listening as they talked. "Raivis, did you see him leave at all?" Raivis shook his head. "Well, he couldn't have left the house. I didn't hear the front door close."

"Well, he's not in the bathroom. Where else could he be?" It was at that point that it dawned on them. Toris looked over at Tino, his eyes bigger than usual. "Tino...you know where the nursery is, right?"

Tino responded with a nod. "Can you go check it out? Raivis and I...well, we're kind of afraid to." The Finn was walking to it already. Toris didn't need to ask.

When Tino opened the door, he immediately regretted it. The nursery was still bright and clean. The toys and furniture were all there. The only thing that was out of place was, well...normally there wasn't a dead Estonian hanging from the ceiling.

It seemed to be a delayed reaction, but it felt like forever before Tino began screaming.

...

The weather was unusually cold today. It was cold, even for Lukas. The man shivered and held himself as he walked through the streets. The people around him didn't seem to notice him.

He didn't know where to go, or what to do. He couldn't go back to the Nordic's house. He would likely not be welcomed there. With the way Tino chased him out, it was guaranteed he'd never see the inside of that place again.

Lukas could feel the presence of his Nisse behind him. He turned his head, and indeed, the creature had been following.

"What do you want? I am not in the mood to entertain you." The Nisse said nothing. It looked closer and saw a tear sliding down the Norwegian's cheek.

"I wish to be alone with my misery. I have lost my brother, the man I loved, any respect from the others, and now..." Lukas looked up. People still didn't seem to see he was there.

"Now...I have lost my home." Lukas continued walking, unsure of what was going to happen to him now. His future didn't seem to hold much promise for him.

All that was left for him now was just hope and pray for the best.

* * *

Yep...I went there. I decided to put up another update before the beginning of March.

I figured, again, that I did enough editing and changing to this chapter, but if I forgot to fix anything, let me know.

-Emerald-Shadow-Knight


	18. Placeholder

So...it appears last chapter was well received. Well, hopefully, this story will get done in a few chapters, soon. Things that you guys may not like will happen, and well...we'll see how it goes.

Disclaimer: Do not own Hetalia.

* * *

Raivis had a bad feeling just from standing in this room. It should've been a joyful place, for everyone. There should've been a happy, cooing child in the crib to the right of him. He, Eduard, and Toris should've been watching her, fawning over the little miracle.

Well, that was rather hard to do, given both parent and child were dead. Now, the Latvian felt an as if an enormous hole was in his chest. He was shaking, knowing full well what was going on out in the other room. He felt like collapsing.

"Raivis." Hearing his name made him jump. He looked over to see Toris standing in the doorway. He looked down at the floor, shuffling his feet. "You shouldn't be in here. Come on, everyone's waiting."

He didn't know what to say. Raivis really didn't want to be in the same room as a dead body laying in a box. Even if that dead body was a fellow Baltic.

Seeing nothing to tell him, though, the Latvian followed his fellow living Baltic out into the living room.

...

Laying in a bed all day bored Peter. The tubes inside him didn't help, either. He'd rather not watch TV, since daytime television wasn't exactly rave-worthy. So the boy lay here, bored out of his little mind.

Well, he did want to rip those damn tubes out. He didn't like what they were for. They were for feeding him, something he didn't want. Of course, the nurses and doctors would yell at him if he so much as yanked on one.

Peter looked out the window, fiddling around with his hands, when a nurse looked into his room.

"Mister Kirkland, you have a visitor." Then, when she went back out, "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to put that away. It may upset the other patients."

The boy listened at the muffled voice trying to reason with her, before the owner made himself known.

"Hey, Peter," Alfred said, with his cheeks full, in an attempt to keep his voice clear. A bag he had on his shoulder carried the smells of fried food. "Uh...I had the choice of either visiting you, or go to a funeral. I, eh...I guess my answer is obvious."

Peter sat up at the mention of 'funeral'. "Who died...?"

"Eduard. Uhhh...Guess it was suicide, I heard. I don't know, all I know is what the others told me." The American frowned. He knew this wasn't a good subject to bring up with Peter. "So if Tino and the others aren't looking so happy next time you see them, that's why."

The boy frowned. He remembered the last time he saw Eduard, so broken and sad. He knew the man was heartbroken over the loss of his child, but never did he think he would be driven to kill himself.

"I know what you're probably thinking, Peter. But this wasn't in any way your fault. He was just really screwed-up in the head. I guess he already was, before he lost his kid. What's they term they used? Post...something. He had that."

Postpartum depression. Combined with his child's stillbirth...no wonder. Alfred was right. Eduard was screwed-up in those last days.

"Anyway, I kind of get the feeling that everyone's gonna need some cheering up, after all this. I got no idea how much it'll help, but..." Alfred took a gentle hold of Peter's arm. The damn thing was like a bony twig. "You think you can feel a little better? Maybe gain some weight back?"

"But...!" The very thought of becoming fat again was horrific to Peter. His visitor stopped him with a raised hand.

"I know what you're gonna say, man. But trust me, I know how this all works. You got a full-blown disease, and it's killing you. You think I don't see this in my country? I see it all the time!"

Alfred took a deep breath to calm himself down. "A lot of kids your age keep thinking they're fat, no matter how skinny they get! And sometimes, by the time they do get help, it's too late!"

"Just...do it for them. If not for them, maybe for me? And if not for me, then...yourself?" Peter didn't answer. Alfred's words, however, left him with some thinking to do.

...

"_Jeg er ked af..._" Mathias sat at the fresh grave in front of him. Everyone had left already. The Dane earned some weird looks when he told them he wanted to stay behind.

He looked next to him. Two gravestones, one smaller than the other. The final resting places of Eduard and his daughter...Their daughter.

Mathias stood up, and reached into his coat pocket to pull out a bouquet of flowers, already beginning to wilt. He then pulled a small teddy bear out of the other pocket. He placed both on the proper graves.

"I, uh...Emil told me everything. I don't get it. Lukas didn't have to...do all this to you..." He paused to wipe a tear away with his thumb. "If this whole thing was bothering him, he could've just said something! He didn't have to do all this..."

At this point the grieving father cracked. He lurched forward, to the point where his forehead was touching the ground. "It's not fair..." He grabbed handfuls of dirt and pounded the ground with his fists. "It's just not fair!"

Mathias laid there, sobbing. He didn't hear the footsteps coming up behind him, and the voice that cut through startled him.

"Life isn't always fair, Mathias." The Dane looked up through his tears, seeing a silver head of hair. He got up and dusted himself off.

"Emil...Whaddya doing here?" The Icelandic man motioned to the stones behind them.

"You were taking a while to join us. I came to see why." The Dane said nothing to him at first, simply sniffling and wiping his eyes on his sleeve.

"How come he did it, Emil? He could've told me everything. He didn't have to...you know..." Mathias looked at him more sternly now. "He didn't have to kill them!"

"The child, he killed," Emil corrected him. "Eduard...well, he killed himself." The Icelandic man walked toward the graves, looking upon what Mathias laid upon them. "No...let me rephrase that. Lukas was only doing what he was right. He said so himself. The child died because of a misleading attempt to protect our reputations. And when she did..."

Emil looked at the baby's gravestone, then at Eduard's. "Eduard committed suicide, but what he really died from...was a broken heart. When one died, the other followed. I don't think Lukas planned for both their deaths. Only the child's. It makes him sounds monstrous, but then again...love will make you do some rather extreme things."

The Icelander didn't dare tell Mathias what Lukas tried to do that one afternoon in the hospital. He felt it was best to let the Norwegian keep some redeeming features.

"Yeah, I know." The two of them stood side by side, looking at the graves. It was hard to believe both of them were gone.

* * *

Sorry to leave on a cliffhanger. I wanted to update this with my other story, so it's a bit of a rushed job and sort of filler. There was more at the end, but I wanted to save that for next chapter.

-Emerald-Shadow-Knight


	19. Perfect

*insert Author's Notes about story ending soon here*

Disclaimer: I do not- ohhhhh you get it! I'm tired of writing these, anyway.

* * *

It had already become nightfall. Raivis had long gone to bed, with a shot glass and a bottle of alcohol, Toris noticed. He knew the younger one could put away a good amount of alcohol depending on what day it was.

He wasn't sure if any day lately was a good one. Everyone had their own ways of mourning, he supposed. Peter in the hospital couldn't exactly be good for his friend, either.

Normally he'd call Feliks, but the Polish man probably wouldn't know what to do, either. He'd probably say something along the lines of, "like, sorry for your loss. It's gotta be a total bummer." He'd say it in a sad tone, and he'd be genuinely saddened by Eduard's death, but Toris didn't need to have the obvious stated.

"Raivis?" The brown-haired man checked on his fellow Baltic, but found he wasn't in his own room. Just a few shelves of alcohol on the back wall and a couple musical instruments scattered about the floor.

"Oh, right..." Toris looked into the other room, and sure enough, Raivis was there, with an empty bottle and Eduard's laptop in his arms. The older male didn't have the heart to wake him.

"I miss him too," he whispered. He then knelt down and simply watched his fellow Baltic sleep.

...

Lukas normally didn't venture to these sorts of places. In this case, however, he had to have something to drink, and coffee just wasn't going to cut it. He almost wished it wasn't in such a seedy location of this town.

Then again, maybe he deserved it. It wasn't like he'd feel welcome in the other Nordic countries. Swallowing what little pride we had left, Lukas pushed the door to the establishment open.

Besides a few presumed drunks, the place didn't seem too popular. The Norwegian then saw a familiar face. Without hesitation, he made his way over.

"Hei," he said to the blond one. The big brows almost seemed to raise off the other's head as they looked at each other. "It's been quite some time."

"Well, what'll be your method of guilt, eh?" Arthur's words seemed to slur already. "Oh, bugger it! I don't care..." Lukas simply took his seat next to the Englishman.

"That makes two of us." Arthur looked at him, confused. "If you were wondering, yes, I put your books to good use." Of course, Lukas wasn't going to say how. No sense in turning even more people against him at this point.

Arthur simply snorted. "Where's the rest of them?"

"I...Due to certain events, it is best I stay clear of the others for a good long time. I don't wish to bore you with the details." Now the other man looked surprised. "And what would be your story?"

Arthur blinked. "Well...Oh, blast, I suppose I'm in the same way. You probably know already. I'm at fault, and here I am, drowning my sorrows. What, they send you here to drag my arse home?"

"Nei. I am here for the same reason." Lukas looked down to the floor. "Would it trouble you to have a drinking companion? I've done...inexcusable things, and for a few hours, I wish to forget them."

Arthur shrugged. "Go ahead. Order what you want. Just don't expect me to say anything intelligent later on."

Lukas complied. For a time, the two drank in silence. It felt...kind of nice. Yes, the Norwegian had blood on his hands, but for now, those hands held a glass of strong liquor.

In time, he would be truly punished. Whatever came to him, he deserved it. For now, he would welcome this assault to his liver. Pain was good.

...

_"Just...do it for them. If not for them, maybe for me? If not me, then...yourself?" _Alfred's words echoed through Peter's mind. He had to admit, the man knew what to say in the right situation.

The boy laid in his bed, staring at the ceiling. The steady beeping of the machines kept him awake. The other nearby patients on the floor had probably gone to sleep already.

Peter then looked outside. The moon was out, shining in all its glory. It seemed to look upon him. The town below it seemed to struggle to stay awake.

Finally, the child looked at his hands, expecting them to look the size of thick sausage patties.

Instead, for the first time in nearly a year, Peter saw...himself. He saw not fat, enormous fingers. Rather, they were thin, and bony. It was as if there was nothing but skin covering twigs.

The rest of him wasn't much better. Feeling down around his chest, Peter felt his ribs sticking out. His legs were just as bad as the rest of him.

Peter was finally seeing himself like he truly was now. He was a far cry from who he had been before. A boy who had once been playing outside, hanging out with his friends, and doing whatever it was twelve-year-olds do... now had to spend time away from his loved ones. Once the picture of health, the child was now a living skeleton.

The boy turned to look the other way. Any flowers sent to him had been taken away. The gifts and get well cards were still there, though. They seemed unusually cheery given the state he was in.

He finally realized. Maybe he should do what the cards said, and actually get well. He thought he needed to lose weight, and it was just now that he was fine before.

Peter honestly didn't know how badly damaged he was. But he had to fix what he could. He had to at least try.

He wanted to see Tino, Berwald, and everyone else smile again. It would be a hell of a recovery process, if there could even be a chance for one.

But hey. He was willing to try.

* * *

The whole thing with Arthur and Lukas was, by request of one of the reviewers, an attempt to give Lukas closure. It may not have been what you wanted, but that's the best I can do at this point, even if it angers some people. I gotta wind things down.

And as much as I don't want to say this...next chapter will be the epilogue. Then this story will be done. After that? Well, you could always stick around and see what other things I write. I mean, if you want.

-Emerald-Shadow-Knight


	20. Peter

So...last chapter. Hopefully, everything will be wrapped up into a neat little package at this point.

Disclaimer: Refer to previous chapter's disclaimer.

* * *

Four pounds. Only four pounds? Surely Peter gained more than that. Of course, he was still restraining himself, as much as he tried not to. After all, he was trying to get himself back up to a healthy weight. In a couple of weeks, though, it was an all right start.

These things didn't happen overnight, either. The boy had a long way to go before he could even think about leaving the hospital.

It was funny, looking down at the scale. It seemed like only yesterday it was Peter's arch-rival, displaying his weight to him as if gloating about it. Now, in a sense, it was a dear friend, showing Peter how well he was eating.

Peter also reminded himself to take it slow. He just had to increase his intake a bit at a time. Rush it, and he was back to square one.

Still, Tino and the others would surely be happy that he was finally starting to get better.

...

Tino was in the house, rearranging the silverware to busy himself, as Berwald was packing lunch for them. They were getting rather sick of the food the hospital offered, and wanted something they actually liked.

"Berwald, I've been thinking..." The Finn whispered, causing his partner to look up. Berwald grunted, indicating that he was listening. "It's about Lukas...You think we should let him come back?"

The taller man shrugged. "Eventually. He needs t' learn his lesson f'rst. He did t'rrible things." Berwald put a hand on Tino's shoulder. "Maybe s'meday."

"Still, he was responsible for several deaths. I don't know...Oh, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it, right?" Berwald simply nodded."Well, let's not dwell on it now. Let's just go see how Peter's doing!"

With that, the two grabbed everything they were going to bring, and went to go find Mathias and Emil.

...

"Hello?" Alfred switched the light to his living room on. For the first time in nearly a year, he hadn't seen any weird antics come from his house. "Tony, you here?"

No answer. It was as if the alien was never there. Alfred slowly inspected the room, making his way to the kitchen. It, too, was empty. The American, however caught sight of something rather odd looking.

"Hello. What's this supposed to be?" He took hold of the odd device and looked it over. A small screen on it lit up, displaying a few lines of text:

_Human:_

_I have gone back to my home planet. My duty is done. _

_I am in your debt for taking me in after I landed in Roswell. Use this however you will. _

_And welcome home. -Tony_

"He left...? And what is this thing, exactly?" Alfred played with the device a bit, looking over the modes and options. The technological overload was so great, he could only laugh in amazement.

"This thing's really advanced! I wonder..." He himself really had no use for this thing. However, hopefully Tony wouldn't mind if he tweaked it a little.

"I bet this would make a great present for Peter! Wonder what else this thing can do." With that, Alfred went back out with his new toy, eager to show it off to the boy in the hospital.

...

Toris and Raivis stood in the room, oddly quiet and holding baskets. It was still a clean, pretty room, but its purpose wouldn't be fulfilled. It was a bit chilling to know, however, that someone had died here.

Slowly, both of them began picking up any stuffed animals around them, placing them into one each of the respective baskets. When all of the toys and clothes were picked up, they were set to move the heavy crib out into the living room. The whole time, neither of them said a word.

When they were finished, the room was now cleared out. The cheery wall decorations were still there, but otherwise it was simply an empty room. The two both walked to opposite ends of the room, still silent.

It was hard to accept that one of their own was gone, but this way, it could be easier to move on. They were still here. They could keep on living for Eduard, and his daughter. He was likely still with them, in spirit.

Neither of them really knew where he'd wound up, given he wasn't really a religious man, but maybe, just maybe, he was still here, as one of the ghosts he secretly had a liking for.

For now, though, this room was to be closed, lingering spirit or not. Both Baltics would probably use it for something else down the road, but for now, neither of them would bother.

"I'll be out in the car, Raivis. Take all the time you need. And lock the door when you come out, okay?" Toris whispered as he left the room, leaving the Latvian alone.

Raivis strode over to the middle of the room and sat down. He remembered helping the other two put it all together. He and Toris were so looking forward to becoming the child's uncles. Too bad it didn't happen that way.

The once overly cutesy room was now silent, and eerie. The boy felt he wasn't alone, either. He looked up at the ceiling, from where Eduard had been hanging that day. It was just...so final. That he had resorted to such an extreme.

After sitting in silence for a few minutes, Raivis stood back up and dusted himself off. He made his way to the door, but just as he was about to walk outside, he turned back and looked in there one last time.

"Goodbye, Eduard," he said quietly. He then shut the light off and closed the door, locking it. He then went outside to where Toris was waiting, ready to visit Peter at the hospital.

...

Peter was so glad to have so many visitors. Not everyone he wanted was here, but nonetheless, he was happy with everyone here for him.

Everyone was...happy for him. He told them of his progress, and he was praised and congratulated at getting better. He had everyone here to support him. There was his parents, his uncles, Alfred, and the Baltics all wanting him to get better.

The boy knew that he had a long way to go. He had to get healthy enough to leave the hospital. Even then, he wouldn't be completely in the clear. Peter knew he had a bumpy and difficult road ahead of him.

Still, he was seeing everyone's faces, so proud of him trying his best. There was a chance Peter would have never seen all of them again. He wasn't out of the woods yet (after all, there was always the chance of relapse), but he had to have hope.

Peter knew there was no guarantee this would ever completely go away. For the longest time, he suffered alone, trying to fix something that wasn't broken. Now, he could begin healing, and setting right what once had gone wrong.

It would be difficult, but he had everyone backing him up. Whatever lay ahead, he now knew he didn't have to go it alone.

* * *

The end.

I know, it probably wasn't what you guys wanted in an ending, but I tried. I seriously did. I didn't want it to seem so final. I wanted it to have the whole, "it's really up to you what happens after" thing going on.

Anyway, eating disorders are a serious thing. Remember, if you or someone you know might have one, by all means, get help! No one should suffer alone. There are many places and people that can help. Reach out, and someone can set you on the road to recovery.

Though this story has ended, stick around, if you'd like! I might have some new stories and updates coming out very soon!

-Emerald-Shadow-Knight


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